Born To Be Wild
by perfect sorceress
Summary: They'd been best friends for as long as they could remember. He was the daredevil - he did everything. He was fearless. And her? She was the goody-two-shoes who always watched from the sidelines. ROXIRI
1. The List of Dares

**Disclaimer: I do not own Kingdom Hearts (II), Roxas, Kairi, Aerith, etc.**

**Author's Note: Yay!! This is a new story I came up with a while ago and have decided to start writing because of pure enjoyment of life. (A.k.a., pure enjoyment of the end of exams and the fast approaching summer vacation, along with Victoria's Day, Father's Day, my class trip to Montreal, my family trip to Greece, my friend and I going to Debate Camp in Upper Canada, possible tennis camp, and etc.) So...decided I'd test it out on you guys. **

**Warning: A incredibly kind, strict teacher ahead. (I don't get it myself, personally...)**

**Quick Author Babble: SuMmEr VaCaTiOn!! WhOo!!**

Born To Be Wild

Chapter 1: The List of Dares

The six-year-old boy was shoved by his mother into Paopu Elementary School. He was unhappy. He'd been perfectly fine in kindergarten with his friends, and then he had to move up a grade and leave them to their own schools. He missed them already. He imagined them playing tag without him and felt sickeningly jealous.

"Why _here_?" he whined to his mother, clinging onto her shorts.

He despised how short he was. If he'd had a choice about his height, he would've grown to be twelve-feet-tall and threatened to stomp on her if she didn't send him to the schools his friends were all going to instead of sending him to a school _no one_ was going to. But he was only at the height to cling onto her shorts and whine.

"Because it's a _good school_, Roxas," his mother replied very slowly, as if he wouldn't understand if she went any faster. "And you are a smart boy."

"Other schools are good too," Roxas pouted.

He was lying because he didn't understand the whole concept of "good and bad schools", but who cared? Maybe if he pretended well enough, his mother would agree and send him back to his friends.

"Not as good as this one." His mother didn't fall for it.

Roxas hated when his mother saw through his lies...which was pretty much always. One day he was going to lie his head off and she wouldn't even be able to tell it was totally false. That was the power Roxas secretly wished for.

Roxas was led to a classroom by his mother. The door was open. Roxas hated open doors. They gave away everything.

A tall, slender woman with long, light brown hair tied in a braid that ran steadily down her back and bright green eyes that looked sweet and understanding got up from her desk and walked over to them. She wore a comforting shade of pink on her dress and had a kind face and a gentle smile. She was almost too good to be true.

This made Roxas not trust her even more. He half-hid himself behind his mother. He felt her hand on his head.

"I'm Wilhelmina Hernandez and this is my son, Roxas," Roxas's mother introduced, holding her hand.

The woman smiled even brighter and shook her hand, then turned to Roxas.

"Hello there, Roxas," she said, speaking much faster than his mother, but much softer. "I'm Miss Gainsborough. Welcome to first grade."

Roxas felt himself being comforted by her. He didn't want to be comforted. He wanted to hate Miss Gainsborough. He wanted to hate everyone who ever existed in this school.

He told himself that she was a teacher—a very deceiving teacher. Just because she smiled and looked pretty and talked to him like he was a grown-up did not make her nice or anything. No teacher was nice.

"I don't want to be here," he snapped at her to clarify. "I don't care who you are. I want to be with my friends."

He turned to his mother.

"_Take me home," _he whined.

"Roxas!" cried his mother, looking more stricken than angry. She looked back up at Miss Gainsborough. "I am so sorry. I've never heard him talk this way."

"No, it's all right," Miss Gainsborough replied cheerfully. "He's not the first one."

She knelt back down and looked at Roxas.

"You may feel that way now, Roxas, but I'm sure after you get to know everybody you will make new friends. Good friends. Best friends. You'll have fun here. I promise. Cross my heart."

She actually did the action to "crossing her heart." Roxas felt confused—torn, almost. He tried to look at it fairly. She _had_ promised.

He released his mother's shorts, only to find Miss Gainsborough taking his hand, ready to lead him into the classroom.

"Bye, sweetie," she said, kissing him on the cheek, deciding all was forgiven for his little fit. "Love you."

And she was gone.

Roxas found himself squeezing Miss Gainsborough's hand. It felt like he was in kindergarten again. How embarrassing.

He was led into the classroom only to find thirty pairs of eyes staring at him. He felt decidedly uncomfortable. It was complete silence in there. Everyone was looking up to see the new arrival.

"Class, this is Roxas Hernandez," Miss Gainsborough introduced.

The classroom echoed with "Hi, Roxas." Roxas kept a steady gaze on the ground.

"Hi," he managed to croak.

"Roxas, you can take the seat beside Kairi there," Miss Gainsborough explained, and she pointed.

Roxas followed her finger to an empty desk beside a red-haired girl he assumed was Kairi. She was looking at him as if he was something peculiar, like a multi-coloured apple. Roxas felt insulted. Back in his old school, he would've never sat beside a girl, and his teacher would've never ordered him to.

"Not a girl!" he cried. "Girls are stupid!"

Girls stuck their tongues out at him as boys burst into fits of laughter. Kairi looked at him, hurt in her violet eyes.

"Now, Roxas..." Miss Gainsborough didn't sound particularly mad or stern, but a little bit desperate. "Don't say such things. How would you feel if I called you stupid? Now Kairi's a very nice girl. I'm sure you two will get along wonderfully."

Roxas nodded finally, but only for Miss Gainsborough's sake. He couldn't care less if Kairi died right there.

He collapsed into the chair in front of the small, brown desk that was now his, determined to not look at Kairi. He imagined her turning red in the face, ready to strangle him, or worse, bursting into tears. Roxas wasn't very good with crying people.

Miss Gainsborough started off with creative writing. She instructed everyone to ask her if they needed help with spelling or grammar and write about their summer vacation, and sat back down on her desk.

Roxas assumed it was a time to talk, because an eruption of chatter filled the room. He trying to blank them out because he had no one he particularly wanted to talk to.

_My summer was fun becus...becase..bekuse..._

"How do you spell 'because'?" he muttered angrily to himself.

"B-E-C-A-U-S-E," said a voice behind him.

He turned to face the red-haired girl who had look at him sadly when he'd stated very loudly that girls were stupid. He scrunched up his face, irritated.

"I didn't ask for help," he snapped.

"Yes, you did," Kairi stated matter-of-factly. "You said, 'How do you spell _because_?' and I answered you."

"Well, I didn't ask _you_ for help," Roxas retorted.

"Then who were you asking?"

"Myself."

"You're weird."

Roxas felt his face heat up.

"At least I'm not stupid!" he yelled.

"Why are you so mean?!" Kairi screeched back.

"What's happening over here?"

Miss Gainsborough's voice broke up the yelling competition. They looked up at her. This time, she _did_ look mad.

"I can't tolerate such rudeness in my classroom." Her voice was both quiet _and_ scary.

The whole room was immediately silenced.

"He started it!" Kairi cried, pointing an accusing finger at Roxas.

"I did not!" Roxas snapped. "You called me weird!"

"You called me stupid!"

"Well, you..."

"_Enough._ I'm sorry, you two, but you're going to have to stay in for recess until you can talk to each other in a calm manner. Now please get back to work. No more talking."

Roxas and Kairi gave each other a final glare before turning back to their pieces of paper. Grudgingly, Roxas wrote "because" Kairi's way on his paper.

**xXx**

The bell rang. Barely heard over the bell was Miss Gainsborough, calling up over the roar of happiness from the kids.

"Recess! Everyone get your sweaters on and let's head outside!"

A wave of kids raced to the back where they grabbed their sweaters on hooks and raced to the door in a single file line.

"You can head outside without me," Miss Gainsborough instructed the children. "Selphie, you lead."

A chestnut-haired girl with bright, lime green eyes at the front of the line cheered happily and marched through the hall with a sense of pride. As soon as the line had completely disappeared, Miss Gainsborough looked at Roxas and Kairi, who were still sitting obediently at their desks.

"Now, I'm going to go outside to leave you two to talk it out," Miss Gainsborough explained. "If I come back and you two are still yelling at each other, I will tell your parents when they come to pick you up. Understand?"

Roxas gave a stiff nod. From the corner of his eye he could tell Kairi was doing the same.

"Good. I'll be back in an hour."

And with that, she promptly left the room. After a few seconds of silence, Kairi turned to Roxas.

"Great job, you dummy!" she snapped. "Thanks to you, I'm in trouble! I can't believe I'm missing recess!"

"Hey, it's not like you're guilt-free or anything," Roxas retorted.

"What's _that_ supposed to mean?"

Kairi looked at him, red glinting in her eyes.

"It means you had to scream so loudly that Miss Gainsborough could hear. If you hadn't, we wouldn't be here."

"It's not like you were any quiet angel either!"

"That doesn't mean you have to make it so loud my ears nearly explode!"

"Oh, boo hoo, poor Roxas," Kairi said mockingly, sticking out her lip and rubbing her eyes as if she was crying. "Guess what? Nobody cares!"

Roxas was frustrated with this girl. Why couldn't he have sat beside a boy, for Pete's sake? Why couldn't Miss Gainsborough just listen to him?

With a swift move of his arm, he slapped her arm as hard as he could.

"_Ow!" _Kairi wailed, covering the red spot on her arm with her hand.

She seemed to look at the table for a long time before glaring at him. Tears were rapidly filling her eyes.

"You hit me!" she cried.

Roxas fell silent as Kairi leaned her elbows on the table and covered her face with her hands, shaking slightly.

"I..." he paused, feeling guilty yet also defiant. "I'm sorry! I shouldn't have done it!"

Kairi stopped shaking and didn't speak for a long time.

"Jerk."

She didn't sound mad, just playful. She looked up again and Roxas was relieved that the tears had gone and been replaced with a happy smile.

"I'm sorry," he repeated, just to get the point through that he really was sorry.

"It's okay."

**xXx**

"Hey, Kairi!"

Roxas raced up to the sixteen-year-old, red-haired girl sitting on the bench in the park, reading some book that was bright pink with sparkles - an obvious girl book. She didn't even respond.

"Hey! Kairi! Kairi Thomas!"

Finally the girl looked up and gave a dazzling smile.

"Hi, Roxas."

He sat down and compared their heights. He was taller than her. Not an extreme amount taller, but taller nonetheless.

Roxas focused on the book Kairi once again relaxed her gaze on and made a face.

"A girl book," he said, the words slipping off his tongue in a skeptical way.

"A _good_ girl book," Kairi corrected, her face still half-hidden by the pages.

"No, a _stupid_ girl book," Roxas remarked, and with that he grabbed the book from her hands and dropped it on the grass.

"Roxas!" Kairi snapped, slapping him on the wrist. "Books aren't free, you know!"

"It's not damaged. You just weren't paying attention to me."

A pause.

"And it's also too stupid to be in my sight."

Another slap across the wrist. Roxas laughed. He didn't care. It was worth it. He got so many slaps from Kairi that half his wrist was turning red.

"So, what is it that's so important that you beat up my book?" Kairi asked.

Roxas looked around and gestured for Kairi to lean in close. He leaned in close to her ear. He enjoyed doing this because Kairi always shivered and he enjoyed tormenting her to no extent.

"I'm going to do everything I possibly can this year," he whispered.

"What do you mean?" Kairi asked.

A mischievous smile crept onto his face.

"Like, dare everything," he explained.

"Dare everything?"

A look of worry came over Kairi's face and she immediately backed away.

"No, Roxas."

"What? Why not?"

"I know you too well. It'll get out of hand. You know it will."

Roxas pinched Kairi's cheek teasingly and pulled it like his great Aunt Clara.

"Aww...how adorable! Little Kairi's worried!" he cooed.

He dropped his hand. Kairi glared at him.

"I'm serious, Roxas! I know you and your antics! I just don't want you to get hurt..."

Her voice faded, as did her gaze. Roxas watched as Kairi's line of sight wandered downwards to her clasped together hands.

"Listen, Kairi," Roxas said firmly. "Are we friends or not?"

"Yeah..." Kairi mumbled, her eyes still on her nail-polished fingers.

"You know that's not the right answer," Roxas sighed, poking her.

"There's a right answer?" Kairi replied snidely.

Roxas kept incessantly poking her—in the stomach, the shoulder, the neck. Kairi kept cringing. He got up and started jabbing the back of her head.

"I'm going to keep being _annoying_ if you don't _answer_ me..." he said in a sing-song voice. "Are we friends or not?"

Roxas jabbed Kairi in the neck once more. Finally she let out a defeated sigh.

"_Best_ friends," she remarked.

"Exactly," Roxas stated triumphantly, leaping back onto the bench beside Kairi. "And for you to not trust me after a decade of friendship...Shame, Kairi!"

He threw her the wide-eyed, puppy dog look. She quickly looked away, but Roxas could tell she was smiling. He pulled her mouth with her fingers to make a gargantuan smile.

"Better."

"Roxas!"

Kairi pulled away, giggling. Roxas tickled her neck to make her fall off the bench laughing.

"Ow," she whined after she got back up, still laughing.

And suddenly, a hiccup escaped her lips. Then another. And another. Roxas grabbed the bench to stay balanced while laughing.

"Hic...jerk," Kairi said, but she was laughing too hard to mean it.

"I love you too," he stated, flicking at her arm, then added mockingly, _"hic." _

Whenever they said the word "love" to each other it never meant anything. Not anything that it was supposed to mean. They did love each other, in a way. But nothing serious. Nothing like boyfriend-girlfriend love. So of course, all it did was install another round of laughs between the two.

"So, promise you'll stick by me on this?" Roxas said, rubbing his eyes.

Kairi seemed to consider.

"Fine, but only if you promise me to not go too far," she stated.

"Cross my heart," he swore, literally doing the action to his words.

Why did doing that feel so familiar? Kairi didn't notice a thing, however, and just smiled agreeably at him.

"Okay, I promise."

As they looked at each other, Roxas could feel the excitement of starting something new swelling in his chest. This was going to be an exciting school year.

**Review if you like this story. Review if you hate this story. Review if your life depended on it. Review if your life has nothing to do with reviewing. Just review, review, review!!**

**(cough) You know, if you want to... (cough)**

**Read and review.**

**Goodbye!**


	2. Skinny Dipping

**Disclaimer: I do not own Kingdom Hearts (II), Roxas, Kairi, Sora, etc.**

**Author's Note: This was fun and a little uncomfortable. I wrote it way faster than any other chapters of my other stories, and it turned out rather randomly. Not my fault that my fingers can't stop themselves. **

**Warning: Mentioned scenes of nudity. **

**Quick Author Babble: The warning sounds worse than it actually is.**

Chapter 2: Skinny-Dipping

_Dear Diary, _

_I'm worried. No, not worried—more like nearly dying from terror. How could he be so stupid? How could he even __consider_ _doing something like this after the flooded toilets in the boys' washroom? He was suspended for two weeks! He nearly got __expelled__! You'd think he would've learned by now that if he didn't chase after trouble, trouble wouldn't find him. _

_Who am I talking about, you ask? _

_Roxas, of course. _

_A list of dares. That was his little "innocent" idea today. Don't think it's innocent, Diary, because I swear, "innocent" isn't even in Roxas's vocabulary. This will find a way to go wrong as it always does. And I'll have to fix it. Me. I'm like the mom. The teacher. The flipping PRINCIPAL!_

_I'm the goody-two-shoes. I've always been that way. You'd think Roxas would hate me because he's the exact opposite. Ever since I met him he was a rebel. I think he became my friend because I'm so normal. He's not used to normal. He's used to supernatural. He's used to fireworks. I'm not a firework. I'm the blanket you sit on as you watch the fireworks so your butt doesn't get dirty. _

_I'm so incredibly __boring__. _

_I guess that's the way it is, Diary. I cling onto Roxas because my life would be a big, flat plain without him, and he clings onto me because he's afraid he'll throw up on his giant, heck-of-a-time roller coaster ride of a life without a little rest. _

_Should I go along with this list thing? Should I stop it? Would I be __able__ to stop it? You know how Roxas is when he gets an idea in his mind. You can't get the thing out with a crowbar. _

_I guess it's the time to be the blanket and make sure Roxas's butt doesn't get dirty. _

_Your miserable, goody-goody owner, _

_Kairi_

Kairi slammed her bright pink diary shut, feeling the beads she'd put on it for decoration with her fingertips. She closed her eyes, letting the feeling of reality sink into her of what she had just written. It usually took her a moment to actually think about what she wrote, because when the pen was moving she was doing it rather carelessly, without thought. She wrote the feelings she had that she never shared with anyone, not even Roxas, those moments when she thinks "Darn, I wish I had a pen to write this down" because it's too rude or embarrassing to state out loud. She would never tell Roxas what she really felt about his stunts. He would be upset, angry, and most likely confused. Upset that it hurt her this much, angry that she hadn't actually told him for so long, and confused because he'd never thought Kairi could think such raging thoughts.

She was always behind him, in his shadow. Students at school would congratulate Roxas for his most recent prank while they teased Kairi for being such an uptight crank. It didn't matter who cleaned up the mess. The person who started it captured all the attention.

Kairi, since she had been Roxas's friend for so long, had picked up on his lying technique, and explained to the enraged teachers that Roxas hadn't blown up the chemistry room on purpose, but only because he needed glasses and they had not been ordered yet so he couldn't see the formula written on the board and done it wrongly. He'd only laughed afterwards because he had always been an optimistic person and, in his defense, the scene _had_ been quite funny.

The oblivious teachers would believe her because she is their best student and she would never, ever lie because she is such a good girl. And then Kairi would leave, Roxas beside her, let off Scott free, and the weird thing was Kairi couldn't even remember the phony story as soon as she left the classroom.

It wasn't like Roxas used her. It wasn't like that at all. Most people believed this, or, in some cases, _wanted_ to believe this, but the truth was Roxas was a very sweet friend and never asked for her to get him out of trouble. As a matter of fact, he always said for her to stay out of it because one day she would get caught with her lie and get into trouble. Like he was one to talk.

And the day after, the guys would be clapping Roxas on the back for a "good show" and the girls would be fondling him because he is "so magnificent" and "so adorable" and leave Kairi behind in their dust. Well, not completely. At lunchtime, they would call her things like "wimp" and "teacher's pet" and "_Mom_". They got their congratulations in different forms.

She felt sorry that she felt sorry for herself, that she was that selfish a person. If it hadn't been Roxas, she would've stormed off and just quit the Mom act because she wasn't getting the credit she deserved. But it _was _Roxas and that changed everything somehow in her twisted, Kairi universe.

There was a loud tap all of a sudden. Kairi was lifted from her melancholy thoughts. Another tap. This one was harder. She stood up from her bed, slightly dazed. The third tap was more like a crunch. In her dimly lamplit room, Kairi located the window and opened it up just as another stone was being wound up for a throw.

"Stop!" she cried. "Don't throw! It's open!"

The last thing she needed was for a rock to hit her in the face. Laughter danced through the night.

"Wasn't planning to. I'm not blind, you know."

"That's not the point, Roxas. You throw like a blind person."

"Ha, ha, very funny."

Even through the surliness, there was a weird sincerity in his voice. Kairi didn't question his throwing rocks idea instead of simply knocking on the door. They did this a lot because according to Roxas it was more fun.

"Come down!" Roxas hissed.

"No, you loony!" Kairi called back. "I'm in my pajamas, and do you know how late it is?"

"Of course I know how late it is. And who cares if you're wearing your pajamas? No one's going to see you except me."

"The school year starts tomorrow! I've got to sleep!"

They were going into eleventh grade this year. Two out of four years of painstaking high school were completed.

"More the reason to come out," Roxas replied with a shrug. "Our summer days are nearly over. We've got to enjoy what we have."

"And I'll enjoy it by sleeping," Kairi said sort of snippily. If she hadn't been talking to Roxas, she would've raised a lot of tempers.

"Come _on_! We're meeting Sora and Yuffie at the dock!"

He was using his whiny voice that no living creature in the universe could stand. It broke your eardrums and annoyed you to no extent.

Kairi dawdled, looking at his hopeful face, taking as much time as she wanted just to torture him.

"I'm not going without you," he said flatly.

"Well...okay," Kairi sighed, sounding as if she was being asked to climb Mt. Everest.

Roxas's face lit up.

"One second."

She disappeared into her room in search of her slippers, since she didn't feel like going downstairs to get her sneakers. What difference did it make? She was in her pajamas anyway.

Snatching a sweater off a hook just in case, she ran back to the window and climbed onto the windowsill. Using her tree-climbing skills, which she'd only bothered to learn for such occasions, she grabbed onto the nearest branch of the tall paper birch tree, then clambered down, landing on her feet with an overly dramatic finish.

"Where are we meeting them?" she asked Roxas.

Even though she was almost Roxas's personal rule enforcer, she always felt a little streak of rebellion when she around him.

"Dock," he replied, and they set off.

They lived on Destiny Islands, the warm, sunny paradise of all who lived there. It was happy and almost always warm excluding winter, and the beaches were extraordinarily breathtaking.

The beach was so close to Kairi's house they didn't even have to walk for five minutes. The dark waves were small and made the most relaxing _whoosh_ sound. Little noise was made otherwise. The sky was deep navy, decorated in bright silver stars, coating the khaki sand in blue. Even from their standing point, Kairi could see the two silhouettes sitting along the beach.

"There they are." Roxas beat her to pointing them out.

Sora and Yuffie were good friends of theirs. They'd only met them in high school but they had goofy, eye-attracting auras about them that seemed to automatically attract Roxas and Kairi to be their friends. They usually joined in on Roxas's antics but didn't get nearly as much credit as he did.

"Sora, Yuffie!" Kairi called out with a wave, changing her slow, walking pace to a running one.

They looked up from their place beside the dock. Yuffie threw her head backwards so she was looking at Kairi upside down, short, black locks falling all around her face.

"Hey, Kai-Kai!" she chirped.

Sora turned his blue gaze to her and smiled and winked, right on the edge of flirting. He never meant it though. It was sort of like an ongoing joke.

"You finally made it," he said. "You guys took so long, I can't believe you're still in your pajamas, Kairi!"

"Mr. Bad Aim over here didn't exactly tell me in advance," Kairi replied, nudging Roxas.

"I didn't even tell myself in advance," Roxas remarked defensively. "How was I supposed to tell you?"

They sat down beside Sora and Yuffie, their eyes lingering on the ocean.

"Well, we all know why we're here, right?" Roxas asked.

"We do?" Kairi looked up, bewildered.

"Yup," Sora answered, ignoring her. "The list of dares."

"What?!"

Kairi was so shocked by this turn of events she nearly fell over.

"Come on, Kairi," Yuffie said, looking at her over Sora's shoulder. "You've _got_ to know about the list of dares by now!"

"I know, but I didn't know this was about that. I thought it was about celebrating the last day of summer vacation. A tribute."

"No," Roxas answered, shaking his head. "It's about the quickly coming up first term, and what I'm going to do to keep from getting bored. Quick, um...Sora, a dare."

Kairi threw Sora a pleading look, a look that screamed, "Stop it! Stop it now!" but she knew it was hopeless. Sora was ignoring her.

He fell back into the sand and let out a long "hmm". Finally, clacking his tongue thoughtfully, he sat up again and looked back out at the ocean. He was cooking up something that Kairi knew she as not going to like.

"I dare you, right at this very moment, to skinny-dip," Sora said finally, an evil grin sliding across his face.

Skinny-dip. Kairi wished he meant the potato chip kind of dip, but she knew all too well he didn't. She clasped her hands into tight fists and realized she couldn't speak.

"Gross!" Yuffie cried, making a face. "Sora, that's retarded!"

Kairi looked at her hopefully. At least someone agreed with her.

"You don't have to do this if you don't want to, Roxas," Kairi finally managed to say, finding her unused voice.

"Trust me," Roxas laughed, "he could've said much worse."

_What are you saying?! _Kairi felt like screaming at him. She didn't want to see anything of the sort, and found herself squeezing Yuffie's arm so hard she let out a howl of pain.

"Okay, do it," Sora chided. Kairi felt like punching him in the head.

"Okay, I will."

Kairi knew Roxas loved challenges. He couldn't avoid one. It was one of his worst habits.

Why was he so brave? Could he feel embarrassment at all? Kairi didn't know how anyone could think that way.

With one final daring glare from Sora, Roxas took off his shirt to reveal his bare chest. Kairi squeezed Yuffie's arm harder.

_Oh, Lord, help me. _

His hand flew to his pants. He unzipped, and down they went too to reveal a pair of grey boxers.

"YUFFIE!" Kairi screeched, and her nails went right through her black-haired friend's skin.

"WHAT?!" Yuffie yelled at an equally shrill level. "KAIRI, I'M BLEEDING! STOP IT!"

Kairi finally let go of Yuffie's arm to reveal ten very deep, very red gashes.

"Sorry," she squeaked.

"Still not completely unclothed, Roxas," Sora chimed, laughing at Kairi's expression of horror.

"No, don't do it! Don't listen to him! Sora's an idiot!"

Kairi wanted it to end. Her veins were on fire. Now Yuffie was squeezing her arm.

Roxas didn't even hear her. His hands slowly reached down to the stretchy elastic that held the boxers up. Without even thinking, Kairi grabbed Yuffie and hid her face in Yuffie's black hair, relieved that it was so dark and thick and that she couldn't see anything through it. She could fell her hair moving and knew that Yuffie was doing the same.

Sora's laughter rang through her ears, but it sounded distant, as if she wasn't actually beside the scene, as if she was watching it from afar. She heard a splash. Roxas was in. She waited ten seconds before allowing herself to move back from Yuffie, noticing that her face had made Yuffie's hair stick up oddly. She was pretty sure hers looked the same.

She turned to the ocean slowly. She didn't want to see anything disturbing. Luckily, all she could see was Roxas's top half.

"What a relief," she sighed.

Roxas looked cold. His teeth were chattering. He was trying to move but to no avail.

"Okay, okay, that's enough," Sora said, noticing his obvious discomfort.

Kairi closed her eyes so tightly her retinas hurt. Finally, after she heard a zip of a zipper, she looked up again and screamed.

Sora had made the noise to fool her. Roxas was still completely bare. She turned away, Sora's taunting laughter all she could hear. She felt so embarrassed she thought she might cry. Yuffie started yelling curse words at Sora, and Roxas agreeably joined in.

A couple minutes later, Kairi's eyes were still shut so tightly she wouldn't be surprised if they were glued together permanently. She felt a hand on her shoulder and Roxas's voice say calmly,

"It's okay. I'm dressed."

She still didn't want to open her eyes. Instead she hid her face in her arms and rested her head against her knees, curling up into a ball. She couldn't even mumble a muffled "I'm sorry." She couldn't talk at all.

"That was a horrible trick to play, Sora!" Yuffie shrieked. "Look at her! Kairi's damaged for life!"

"S-Sorry." Sora was stifling back laughter. "That was a bad thing to do."

"Come on. It's all right."

A hand lifted her head up. She allowed her eyes to open just a little to look into Roxas's face. She was traumatized. She would never, ever fully open her eyes again.

"Sorry," she apologized for whatever reason and closed her eyes again.

"Wow," Sora teased. "Must've been bad, Kairi, eh?"

"Shut up, Sora," Roxas snapped.

"What? You said you wanted excitement this year. It just so happened Kairi got a piece of it."

"I'll shut him up," Yuffie volunteered.

There was a loud crack. Kairi could hear an _"Ow!" _

"Suck it up," Yuffie remarked.

"Uh...I'll take her home," Roxas suggested. "That's enough excitement for one night."

A hand pulled her up from the ground and began leading her through the sand. As Sora and Yuffie's voices disappeared, Kairi slowly opened her eyes to reveal her house, unmoved by the ruckus at the beach, the people inside unaware to Kairi's horrifying, embarrassing experience.

She didn't cry. She didn't scream. She didn't do anything but let Roxas lead her to the tree she climbed on a daily basis, the tree that led her to her warm, familiar bedroom, the unaffected bedroom that contained a journal that was waiting to be written in.

She'd been so right—_too_ right—about what was going to happen. She wished Roxas would stop. She knew he wouldn't, but she hoped.

"Sorry," Roxas apologized instantly, as soon as she touched the trunk of the tree. "I can't remember why we became Sora's friend in the first place."

"Neither can I," Kairi replied.

She meant it more than he did. No joke. Even so, she mostly replied so it wouldn't be uncomfortable the next day. Kairi supported the future. Roxas was all about the present.

"Goodnight, Kairi."

Was it just her or did his voice sound slightly squeaky?

"'Night."

Her voice was cracked. Quietly, she clambered back up into her room and shut the window immediately, allowing the torrent of feelings to finally wash over. She promptly sat down at her desk. Two entries would be made tonight.

**E Muja SN and TN: I thought it would be harder to write a Roxiri than it actually is, since I'm all pro-Sokai and stuff, but it's a lot easier than you'd imagine. Yeah, exams suck. Especially mine.**

**Zestychicken2: My favorite couple is, and always will be, Sokai. I have donated my heart to such things. I love that pairing. But sometimes you have to try different pairings. I mean, how boring a person would I be if I just wrote Sokai? Boring, boring, boring. Snoring boring. Cricket boring. I'm hoping people will look differently at Roxiri when I write this, because really it's **_**not that bad**_**. Beforehand, like you, I couldn't stand Roxiri. I cringed whenever I read it. I read it for the sake of Princess Kairi, the author. But now I realize it really isn't that hard to imagine for some reason. And if you're really having trouble, just pretend Roxas is Sora and Sora is Roxas. It makes all problems go away. Thanks for reading it anyway! That makes me happy. (Tear)**

**jcola0823: Oh, thanks a lot!**

**No(t) that ordinary: Do you know who Wilhelmina is? Because I don't. I just used the name. Thanks, and I read a bit of your story. Aren't there four chapters? **

**So, um, thank you, people who bothered reading this. And yes, I know, the stories that I am currently writing all have Roxas as a main character. I promise the new ones won't have Roxas as a main. Pinky promise. **

**Anyway...**

**Read and review, and watch Kingdom Hearts Spoof! It makes me laugh so much. And also watch the Macbook Air parodies. They're so awesome. **

**See ya! **


	3. Streaking

**Disclaimer: I do not own Kingdom Hearts (II), Roxas, Kairi, Sora, etc. **

**Author's Note: I know what you're all thinking—why am I continuing this story? I mean, I don't even get half of the reviews I do in my other stories, so why bother? Well, principle, for one. I've never written a Roxiri before, and I want to cover some of the bases I've never attempted. Second, because it's fun. It's sort of like a break story, following a pattern but still enough to have a plotline, so that's why. **

**Warning: Mentioned nudity. Again. **

**Quick Author Babble: Today was my last day of school!**

Chapter 3: Streaking

Roxas entered Destiny High for his third year of high school. The first day at school was always exciting. All around him teenagers that had been here for previous years met up with each other, asking how their summers were and giving them little tokens from where they went on vacation. Freshmen were walking around nervously, looking confused and lost, clinging onto their books as if that would guide them. Roxas looked around for his own friends.

Spotting Sora, he made his way through the crowd. He felt freshmen's eyes on him and knew that the boys wanted to be him. Girls who knew him giggled as he looked at them. Things never changed around here.

"Morning," Sora greeted happily as Roxas approached him.

"You're an idiot, you know that?" Roxas snapped, knowing many ears were leaning in on their conversation.

"You're _still_ upset about yesterday? And I thought you weren't the kind to hold a grudge."

"For what you did, I have a reason to hold a grudge!"

"I know, I know. Sorry. Again. But you must admit Kairi's face was pretty funny."

Sora let out a small chuckle, finding his locker and opening it.

"Yeah, hilarious," Roxas remarked dryly.

He left to locate his own locker, his thoughts still on yesterday night. That had been so embarrassing. He didn't even want to think back to it anymore, but his brain defied him and kept showing him Kairi's face. He sighed. It didn't matter how close they were. No one was _that_ comfortable with each other.

He saw a redheaded girl standing, coincidentally, right beside his locker, opening the one beside. It never seized to amaze Roxas how things could be set up so brilliantly.

"Hi," he greeted.

"Hm," Kairi replied subconsciously.

"Uh…how are things going?" Roxas twiddled with his lock even though he knew he wasn't putting in the right combination.

"Fine," Kairi replied bluntly.

"That's good."

Had they ever been this awkward around each other before? They'd gone into each other's houses without knocking, taken each other's food without asking, shared secrets without thinking, and now, just because their lockers were beside each other, it was weird? Roxas couldn't stand irony.

"Um…listen." Kairi turned halfway to look at him. "I don't want you to think I looked for more than a millisecond. It was just because…"

"You don't have to explain yourself," Roxas stated calmly. "I know what happened. I just don't want things to be awkward because of that. Whatever image you have in your head, at least try to erase it."

He finally managed to get his locker open and threw his books in. He figured he'd probably just made things stranger by saying that, but at least it was out in the open.

"Okay, gone," Kairi chirped agreeably. "But you've got to promise me something."

"What?"

"Never do something that stupid again."

Roxas laughed.

"Got it."

**xXx**

"Hey, Roxas."

Halfway through history, someone tapped Roxas on the shoulder and whispered excitedly into his ear. Roxas turned to be met with curious, lime green eyes. It was Selphie Tilmitt, known all over the school for her big mouth.

"I heard your making a list of dares," she said.

Roxas nodded slowly, not sure what to think.

"Who told you that?"

He felt like he had to know.

"Yuffie."

Roxas sighed. He had to get mute friends. Selphie let out a quiet squeal.

"That is so cool! It's just like you to do something like that, Roxas! What've you done already?"

Roxas was very close to saying something along the lines like, "Why should I tell you?" but stopped himself.

"Stuff," he bluntly replied.

Instead of burning out Selphie's fire, it seemed to light it further.

"Stuff?" she chattered. "Stuff like what?"

Roxas put his forehead on his hand and leaned on the desk. Did this girl _ever_ shut up? Couldn't she take a hint?

"Skinny-dipping," he surrendered with a long, heavy sigh.

"YOU _DID_?!"

Roxas cringed and put his hands over his ears. Everyone in the class turned to look at him and Selphie, including the teacher.

"What's going on here?" Mr. Auron snapped, walking over to the two desks.

His eyes, peering, irritated, through his sunglasses, fell upon Roxas's still wincing face.

"Roxas," he sighed. "Of course."

"Professor, I…" Roxas began, prepared to make an argument in his defense, but Mr. Auron promptly cut him off.

"Detention for both of you," he ordered. "Selphie, you must stop chatting during my lessons. It is very disruptive. And Roxas…"

He just shook his head and stalked off. Roxas grit his teeth. He knew he wasn't the best student, but it's not like there was much you could do in history class. The teachers must've gossiped about him in the staff room. Teachers who never even taught him didn't like him. It had been Roxas's suspicion for awhile.

Mr. Auron had never been the nicest teacher. In fact, he was feared for his sternness and his strict manner. To Roxas, like all teachers, he treated unfairly. How could he possibly give punishment to him when he'd been assigned a seat in front of Selphie Tilmitt? Life was so unfair.

**xXx**

"Detention on the first day?" spluttered Kairi hours later in the cafeteria. "How is that even possible?"

"Sit in front of Selphie and even the impossible comes true," Roxas replied, casting a glare across the room at the table the chestnut-haired girl was sitting at even though she wasn't looking at him.

"Jeez, that sucks," Yuffie commented, poking at her glob of unidentifiable, brown gook. "But I guess that's what happens when all the teachers are out to get you."

"That's only because Roxas is out to get the teachers," Sora stated, taking a sip from his soda.

"It's not my fault that they can't take a little fun." Roxas pushed his tray away, not feeling hungry anymore.

Kairi was looking at him like he'd just gotten arrested.

"Listen, it wasn't even my fault this time!" Roxas cried defensively. "It's not my fault Selphie can't keep her voice down!"

"But it _is_ your fault that you told her anything!" Kairi snapped. "C'mon, Roxas! You _know_ Selphie is known for her gossiping 'talents'! Next thing you know, this is going to be in the school newspaper!"

"I barely told her anything, okay? I was trying to avoid that, but she wouldn't leave me alone!"

"Then tell her to shut up!"

"If I did that, she would've been even louder as a response."

Kairi stood up from the table and grabbed her tray.

"Well, thanks to your brilliant thinking, you've got detention after class," she snapped, "not that you don't deserve it."

"But…I…ugh…_Kairi_…" Roxas allowed his head to meet the table. "Where are you going?"

"The library," Kairi replied coldly. "I'm going to find a book to read, since I'm obviously not eating."

Yuffie made a face at her lunch.

"Yeah, I'm with you on that one." She got up and followed suit.

Everything was silent for a couple of moments, then Sora turned to Roxas.

"Well, Kairi's in a great mood today," he said with an irritatingly happy smile.

"Shut up," Roxas snapped, getting up as well to throw the remnants of his lunch in the garbage.

It wasn't _his_ fault. Why did everyone always automatically assume it was Roxas's fault? Did it matter that ninety percent of the time it was? That other ten percent he got in trouble for too. Where's the justice in that?

And _Kairi_—Roxas didn't particularly care what the teacher's thought, but Kairi had this knack to get mad at him whenever he got into the tiniest bit of trouble, even when it was someone else's fault. This happened daily, and Roxas always apologized because he didn't want to know what would happen if he didn't, and everything would be okay…until the next stunt, of course.

So he ran after her, not only to apologize but to also get away from Sora, who was being incredibly annoying. Why had he become Sora's friend again? He couldn't remember…

Well, anyway, Sora was Sora and Kairi was Kairi and, of course, Roxas was Roxas, so Roxas assumed he had to deal with the both of them, no matter how frustrating they could be.

By the time he'd caught up with them, they were in the library. Yuffie sat down at a table, not even bothering to get a book, while Kairi promptly turned into one of the aisles.

"Kairi!" he cried.

"_Ssh!" _a hundred voices hissed in his ear.

"Sorry!" he whispered. "Kairi!"

Kairi was flipping through the pages of a book, considering whether to read it or not as she always did. Roxas strolled up beside her.

"So…" he muttered, "are you still mad?"

"No," Kairi lied, determinedly keeping her eyes on the pages of her book.

"I see." Roxas was very experienced with these situations, so they didn't worry him much. "Well, that's good, because if you were angry, I'd apologize and give a very corny, heartfelt speech about how you're my friend and all. I'm glad you saved me the trouble."

Kairi was holding in laughter, so she immediately tossed her crimson hair to the side of her face as if it was making a wall between them. Roxas nodded, knowing he was accepted even though she hadn't said anything in return, and walked back out of the aisle to sit at a table with Yuffie.

"Apologizing?" Yuffie asked.

Roxas nodded.

"Yup. What about you? Why'd you come?"

Yuffie took out a nail file and promptly got to work on a broken nail.

"Got bored," she replied coolly.

"I see."

Silence. What was Roxas supposed to do now? Get a book? How boring. Roxas didn't even like reading. It was too tame, and he had no idea how people managed to stay in one place for so long.

"Roxas." Yuffie spoke suddenly, causing him to look up.

Relief!

"Yeah?"

"Don't tell Kairi this, okay?" Yuffie asked.

Roxas nodded, curious. Yuffie leaned over to whisper in his ear.

"I've got a dare for you," she murmured.

Roxas looked at her cautious face. Well. This conversation kept getting better and better.

"What is it?"

Now he was excited. Sora's was…well…embarrassing, but Yuffie's was sure to be daring and adventurous. That was just the kind of person she was.

"There's a football game coming up soon, right?" Yuffie said conversationally, but her voice was lowered just in case.

"I…think so." Roxas tried to remember. "Yeah, there is."

Where was this leading? What did Yuffie want him to do? Grab the ball from one of the players? Tackle a cheerleader? Those seemed very stupid.

"I think you should…" Yuffie was looking around nervously, then she murmured something Roxas couldn't hear.

"What?" He leaned in closer.

"I _said_, I think you should…" More murmuring. Roxas hated when people did that. Actually, everyone did.

"_What?_" he repeated. Was he going deaf or was Yuffie losing her voice?

"I SAID I THINK YOU SHOULD STREAK AT THE FOOTBALL GAME!!" she screamed.

Roxas cringed. Yuffie had never been that patient a person. Everyone in the library turned to look at them, soundless. Yuffie turned very red and hid her face behind her knees.

"Quiet, young lady!" the librarian snapped from behind the counter, her spectacles teetering on her nose. "This is a library, not an arcade!"

"Sor—" Yuffie whimpered, but before she could complete the word, Kairi stormed out of the aisle.

"WHAT DID YOU JUST SAY HE SHOULD DO??" she boomed.

"KAIRI, SHUT UP!!" Roxas cried.

"OUT, OUT!!" the librarian screeched. "I WILL NOT TOLERATE THIS!! YOU MINDLESS TEENAGERS!! YOU LOUD SCUM!! YOU…"

"Alright, grandma, we're leaving," Yuffie snapped. "Jeez."

The grey-haired librarian gave her a very nasty look before closing the doors in their faces.

"Great!" Kairi cried, waving her hands in the air manically. "Just great! Not only are my friends planning to make Roxas streak, but I just got kicked out of my sanctuary!"

"Kai—" Roxas intercepted, but Kairi stared him down and stormed off in a huff.

**xXx**

Roxas looked at the crowded stadium, watching the football players as they collided with each other in a race after the football. For the first time, Roxas was feeling squirmy inside. Not because of the dare, but because of the fact Kairi wasn't here, and she was _always_ there, whether it was nagging him not to do it or encouraging him. Sora and Yuffie were egging him on, though, and he felt himself automatically drop his clothes and race onto the field. He was barely paying attention as the crowd hooted and screamed before turning back around to a laughing Yuffie and Sora.

**xXx**

He called her number for the fortieth time that day. She had Caller ID and common sense, so it was easy to tell it was Roxas calling. It was also easy to tell she was never going to pick up and probably turn her phone off. Roxas kept trying anyway, ignoring the loads of homework he had gathered that day and the e-mails either congratulating him or saying statements like "I'd never believe you'd do something that insane". He shouldn't have. This information would probably just make Kairi madder. Roxas admitted he didn't usually think before he leaped. He was single-minded to the point of recklessness. Maybe he should stop that. If he could, that is.

Was it right of Kairi to be this mad or _should_ she be this angry? Were girls just naturally this sensitive? Roxas didn't know, but he didn't think a simple apology was going to cut it this time.

**E Muja SN TN and EN: Thanks! And yes he is!**

**Jcola0823: I love Roxas too! Sort of. Um. Well, let me explain the list of dares to you—you see, Roxas has always been a little reckless, so he makes a plan for eleventh grade and asks his friends for "dares", or, basically "death traps" to his best friend, Kairi. Somewhere along the way, they fall in love. I think. Well, we haven't reached that far yet so I don't know! Thank you for reviewing!**

**Read and review!**

**Um……………………………………………………bye.**


	4. Sleep Over

**Disclaimer: I do not own Kingdom Hearts (II), Kairi, Roxas, Sora, etc.**

**Author's Note: I suppose it'd be pointless to say that I DO own Miss Thomas. But besides that, I suppose this could be a turning point in the story, since before it has all been dull, immature, childish games between Roxas and Kairi...and I guess Sora, if you really care about a side character. But, um, I guess I'm sort of proud that I didn't get carried away with this chapter like I planned. Unlike my other stories, I'm not going to come on strong with the whole "love and passion" concept. Unlike HMTMKMKM (God, even the abbreviation is long), these best friends are going to stay friends for a little longer. And no, that does not mean that this story is going to be longer. You know what I mean, don't you?**

**Warning: Blah, blib, blah, blah, didder, blah...**

**Quick Author Babble: Bubblier IS a word. Get a dictionary.**

Chapter 4: Sleep Over

_He is a jerk, Diary, I tell ya. The whole world's out to get me. My best friend too! How can anyone be so single-minded? He'll kill himself one day, that boy. _

_Didn't he realize it'll be in all the newspapers? That's right! I saw the censored picture along with the article all about his little "streaking" bit. I feel disgusted. Dismayed. Teary-eyed. _

_I can't wait till I'm avoiding him in the halls and people nearly kill me for it. Don't you love this popularity game? Roxas way, way, way up there, touching the sun basically, and me, below the dumps, below the ground, below the dinosaur fossils, possibly touching the core. I'm lucky we were friends before high school. _

_Not that we are now. _

_He's throwing stones at my window now. Again. And again. And again. How annoying can this boy be?_

_...How stubborn is Roxas, anyway? Okay, so pretty stubborn. He's been throwing for like half an hour now. Isn't his arm getting sore? But I'm not going to crack. I can be just as determined as he is. More so, even. _

_...Okay, I officially can't take this anymore. _

"What do you want, Roxas?!" Kairi screamed down to the blond boy rearing up for another throw.

"To be forgiven!" he called back.

"Well, too bad!" Kairi screeched before slamming the window shut and returning to her journal.

_What a loser. I can't believe he's still going at it. Doesn't he understand that I __**hate him**__? Maybe even if it's for the shortest instant that I hate him, I still hate him, despite our decade of friendship. I am mad. Mad as—_

There was a tapping, but it was not the sound of a rock. Kairi averted her eyes from her diary to look at the window and screamed. Roxas had climbed the drainpipe and was now on her windowsill, looking in.

"ARE YOU INSANE??" Kairi cried, unlatching the window and pulling him in. "YOU COULD'VE GOTTEN KILLED!! YOU BIG, FAT-HEADED IDIOT!!"

"Ah, so you _would_ care if I died," Roxas said, nodding wisely.

Kairi slapped him. Not on the wrist, on the face this time. She hoped it hurt more.

"Roxas, of all the stupid things you could do..." Kairi sighed and clutched her head. "But what do you care, right? Almost getting killed is just the fun of it."

"Not true," Roxas said, collapsing on her bed. "I almost never have near death experiences, _Mom_."

Something inside Kairi flared.

"Why can't you grow up?!" she yelled. "Don't you realize how immature you are, taking dares and nearly breaking your neck! The List of Dares even _sounds_ like it's made by a ten-year-old!"

"Why can't you realize you're a teenager?!" Roxas retorted. "Maybe you haven't noticed, but you're sixteen, and very capable of having fun! There's tons of time to act old when you're eighty!"

"Roxas, one day, probably in the near future, you're going to die, and I'm going to go to your funeral and..."

"Cry," Roxas finished, grinning.

"_Laugh_," Kairi corrected, "because I'll be alive while you're head is sitting in front of a tombstone. I'll kick your name and possibly stomp on your grave. Depends what kind of mood I'm in."

Roxas rolled his eyes and sighed, sitting up on the yellow, frilly quilt.

"You still don't get it, do you?" he remarked, being met with a bewildered stare. "Kairi, there's no point in being alive if you don't _live_."

"Did you get that off a fortune cookie?" Kairi asked suspiciously.

"Yes, actually," Roxas replied. "From Gum Chum's. But those things never lie."

"Very funny."

Roxas looked down at his entwined fingers with his cerulean eyes as Kairi went back to her diary. Maybe if she ignored him, he would go away.

_Diary, as you may have noticed, Roxas is sitting behind me. Yes, I let him in. I'm not cold-hearted, you know. Just...annoyed. I'm pretending I'm writing something interesting so Roxas will think I've forgotten about him and leave. _

"Kairi?"

"Mm?" Kairi said, pretending to be distracted and half-listening though her ears were perking up.

"I'm sorry."

"Um...not good enough." Kairi didn't face him. Her voice sounded like it wasn't coming from her. She was just continuing to scribble nonsense in her journal.

"How many times do I have to say it?" Roxas sighed.

"Till you mean it," Kairi replied in a nearly sing-song voice.

"I _do _mean it. Really. Besides, I climbed up the drainpipe and risked breaking my neck. Doesn't that count for something?"

Kairi half-turned so she could see him through one eye.

"I suppose."

"What else do I have to do then? Sing?"

"No!" Kairi turned very suddenly, remembering karaoke at her birthday party last year. Three words: horrible, painstaking, and deafening.

"I'll sing!" Roxas cried. "I'm going to do it! I'm really going to do it!"

"Roxas..." Kairi quickly got up from her chair.

"HEY, JUDE..." Roxas sang in a broken voice.

Kairi nearly pounced on him as she slapped a hand over his mouth. She looked at him and could see his dimples. He was smiling, the jerk.

"You're forgiven, okay?" she sighed, imagining a cartoon fist plummeting into his head.

"Mmph," Roxas said, muffled by Kairi's hand.

"What?" Kairi asked snappishly, moving her hand.

"I said good."

Kairi rolled her eyes and returned to her journal.

_I think I've never heard "Hey, Jude" sound so bad in my life, and probably never will. I forgave him. I'm too soft a person for my own good._

"Hey, Kai," Roxas said, and Kairi could tell his arms were folded on top of her chair and he was hovering over her.

"Yeah?" Kairi replied, slamming her journal shut protectively.

"Can I stay over tonight?" he asked.

She sighed. This was too much for one night.

"I don't know. I'm still pretty mad at you."

"You're always pretty mad at me."

"Well, that's true..." Kairi turned to face him with a you-deserve-it look on her face. "Why do you want to stay over anyway?"

"My mom won't be back till late and my dad's on some business trip or something," Roxas replied. "I'll be all by myself. Alone. With nothing but my own, lonely tears for comfort."

"Have I mentioned before that you should join drama club with the other thespians?" Kairi remarked.

"Come on, Kai! _Please?_" Roxas put on his best puppy face. Kairi could feel her coldness slowly ebb away.

"Well..." She bit her lip, trying to decide between friendship and moral—an impossible choice. "I'll ask my mom, but if she says no, you're out of here."

Roxas shrugged, knowing there was no better answer than that.

"I'm sure she'll say yes," he said coolly. "Your mom's less mommish than you are."

"Any more comments like that and you're out no matter what she says," Kairi stated, but in a bubblier tone than before.

**xXx**

"Of course Roxas can sleep over!" Miss Thomas exclaimed jovially. "As long as you're in rooms completely opposite from each other."

"Mom!" Kairi whined.

"I'm kidding!" Miss Thomas said, laughing. "You're no fun!"

"That's what I've been trying to tell her all these years," Roxas remarked.

Kairi pinched his forearm.

"Thanks, Mom," she said.

"I'll get the sleeping bags!" Miss Thomas chirped.

While she was in the closet searching for sleeping bags, Kairi's thoughts led to other matters. Her mom and her were the only occupants of the house because her dad had walked out on them long ago. In all honesty, Kairi didn't mind because her mom and her grew very close.

"I hope you know, Roxas," Miss Thomas continued, rifling through the messy closet and distracting Kairi from her thoughts about her father, "that if you were any other boy, I would chase you all the way to Twilight Town at the mere mention of sleeping over, but you and I both know that you would never try something on my daughter."

"I certainly hope we both now that," Roxas agreed, catching a rolled up sleeping bag as it hurled out behind Miss Thomas.

"And, well, on the other hand, it's _Kairi_ we're talking about," Miss Thomas stated.

"Yes, Miss Future-Police-Officer," Roxas said, chatting as if they were having a tea party. "Couldn't imagine her doing a thing."

Kairi put her hands on her hips and glared at him. Miss Thomas pulled out of the closet with another sleeping bag, hair a little frazzled, and smiled teasingly at Roxas.

"You're always going to be a troublemaker, aren't you?" she asked him.

"Hoping I can make a business of it, actually," Roxas quipped. "I'll earn millions and will maybe invite Kairi over for dinner. You know, if she doesn't arrest me for anything."

"The way you're going, you'll probably be in the mafia," Kairi said.

"More the reason to arrest me."

Miss Thomas sighed and walked towards the stairs leading to the den.

"Come on, let's set you two up."

Without another word, the two teenagers followed suit.

**xXx**

"Maybe we should go to sleep now," Kairi suggested after their third movie. "It's getting late, and I actually want to be awake tomorrow morning."

"Tomorrow's Saturday," Roxas said. "There's no rush."

"Maybe, but isn't it nice to be awake for breakfast?" Kairi remarked, sounding a little desperate.

"No, then it'll be too bright outside," Roxas replied.

"Your logic makes no sense," Kairi snapped. "But oh well. Stay up all night. See if I care."

She collapsed on her pillow immediately. It was too warm to go under the blanket in the sleeping bag.

"That's it!" Roxas cried, shaking her.

"That's what?" Kairi asked.

"I'll stay up all night! Thanks for the dare, Kairi!"

"But I didn't...You can't...Ugh! I'm going to bed!"

Kairi was angry with herself to make him go back to this list of dares thing. The boy was dumb. Truly dense.

Although, she reasoned, staying up all night is hardly anything compared to all the nudity going on before. Her dare was certainly the least damaging compared to all the others.

"No!" Roxas exclaimed, pulling her back up from her pillow. "You have to stay up and make sure I don't fall asleep!"

"Roxas..." Kairi sighed.

"Please?" Roxas begged. "I swear it'll be fun!"

Kairi bit her lip. Finally, after much thinking, she nodded.

"Let's put on another action movie," she suggested. "It'll keep us up."

"I knew you were my best friend for a reason!" Roxas beamed.

**xXx**

Three actions movies later, Kairi was exhausted. She didn't know how anyone can have the stamina to stay up so late. What time was it? She focused her gaze on the clock beneath the TV. Three in the morning. She groaned. She knew she would be dead by tomorrow morning. But she _had_ promised Roxas she would stay up with him...

She sighed and crawled over to the DVD player, ejecting the DVD.

"Okay, should we put on another one, Roxas?" Kairi asked. "Or do you want more soda?"

Kairi doubted all the caffeine in the world would keep her awake.

"Roxas?" she repeated, getting a little suspicious. "Earth to Roxas?"

She turned around, and, just as she had hoped, he was fast asleep—head on pillow, limbs dangling uselessly, eyes closed.

Freedom was the first word that came to mind, but then she remembered she had said she would wake him up. Now she had to wonder if his wishes mattered more than both their sleep cycles. However, Kairi's urge to close her eyes defeated her kindheartedness for her best friend, so she put the DVD back in its case and instantly collapsed on her sleeping bag, eager to fall asleep.

_Oh, sweet La La Land, I have missed you so._

And suddenly, after all that, Kairi's eyes popped wide open. Something had seized her waist. Her first thought was to scream, but she knew that would do no good at all, so she turned over to face this thing, and saw it was none only but Roxas.

Should she be mad? Roxas had never actually dared to grab hold of her like that. Maybe she should slap him.

And then, as if it could be any stranger, he pulled her closer, almost right against him, with his hands now comfortably placed along her back, like he was hugging her.

Whoa, cowboy. Whatever happened to "not trying anything"?

Kairi was in a bit of a panic when she realized his eyes were closed. He was still asleep, the...the...well, she couldn't think of a word right then, but he was a something!

And then it her—he was really, really warm. Even warmer than the sleeping bag. But...comfortable.

Kairi could feel herself oblige and slowly reel closer to him.

_No! Stop it! Wake him up right now! _

A voice in her head was screaming at her, but she wasn't listening. For once, her conscience was ignored.

His face was really closed to hers. Kairi had no choice but to look at it. And when she did, she could feel her heart pound really hard. How had she missed how attractive he was before? His blond hair was short and a little disheveled, his face didn't form into any odd shape, and he didn't have a single zit. And she knew, even though his eyes were closed, that he had beautiful, cerulean eyes.

By this time, it became clear to Kairi that she was no longer thinking of him as the boy who kept pulling her pigtails during lower elementary, or the one that attempted to get her interested in sports in upper elementary. She wasn't even thinking of him as the boy who she studied with and tutored during junior high. All of a sudden, he wasn't her best friend anymore. He was that boy who stood in the hallways talking to the lucky people that could get close to him. He was that boy that all the ditzy girls giggled about and had stalker-like crushes on. He was that boy that was daring, good-looking, and charming.

This new view scared her. Panicked, she shook him, feeling a scream edge up her throat.

"Roxas!" she shouted. "Roxas!"

Her heart was pounding, this time in a bad way. She felt slightly teary-eyed.

"ROXAS!!" And just like that, the scream popped out.

The blond boy woke up finally, looking dazed. After a moment's sleepy surveillance of his surroundings, Roxas attempted moving his arms, and was confused when he couldn't.

After he realized what was happening, he reeled his arms in like a fishing line. Kairi immediately moved as far away as her sleeping bag would allow.

"Sorry," he apologized quickly.

Kairi was feeling too choked up to reply, but no tears escaped. It was like her body wouldn't allow it.

"How long have I been asleep?" he asked, squinting at the clock.

"Too long," Kairi whimpered.

Kairi could feel his eyes on her.

"Are you all right?" he asked, and she could feel his fingers lightly graze her arm.

Her arm snapped away from him faster than the speed of light.

"I'm fine," Kairi murmured. "If you're going to watch TV, turn it down. I'm going to sleep."

The silence that followed afterwards proved to Kairi that Roxas knew she wasn't fine.

**Okay, so, what did you think, few reviewers that I have for this story? Please review, whoever is reading this message. I feel sad and lonely. **

**Actually, never mind! I hope you all know this story is going to continue, no matter what! I will finish it, as all other (one) stories that I have finished!**

**Read and review.**

**And a good day to you. (Ha! A rhyme!)**


	5. Dancing in the Rain

**Disclaimer: I do not own Kingdom Hearts (II), Roxas, Kairi, Sora, etc.**

**Author's Note: Hello, people! I am trying to update all my stories as quickly as possible, considering I haven't updated in literally forever. And no, none of them are to be cancelled—not even this one, which is my least popular. I do admit the pairing is not so popular. But I refuse to write yaoi. Ever. Yaoi isn't so bad to read, but I am physically incapable of writing it. **

**Warning: I just had to write this one because it's raining so much around here. I guess this isn't really a warning. Hmm.**

**Quick Author Babble: I am not a homophobe. Really. **

Chapter 5: Dancing in the Rain

Roxas spooned through "his" Froot Loops lazily. He'd only woken up, say, about five minutes ago, and Kairi was _still_ asleep. It was ten o'clock. Ten o'clock! Kairi always woke up at seven, even on weekends. She was a very repetitive girl. And now, all of a sudden, it stops?

Since Roxas had first met Kairi, he never, ever woke up before her. Once he prided himself that he had woken up at six forty-five and called Kairi later on only to find out she had woken up at six thirty. It's basically against the law for something like this to happen.

Miss Thomas walked in. She got up a lot later than her daughter did, but only on weekends. She had major bed head. Her usually sleek, wavy strands of crimson hair were now so frizzy it was like an afro.

"Good look," Roxas commented, accidentally nearly swallowing a Froot Loop in the process. He spat it out immediately, grabbing a napkin and wiping his tongue.

Roxas had never liked Froot Loops. Commercial, colorful things—it was like eating a rainbow…in a bad way.

"Very funny, Smart Guy," Miss Thomas remarked, attempting to comb her hair down with her fingers anyway. "And I thought you hated Froot Loops."

"I do." Roxas spat out one more time to prove it.

"Then what are you doing, eating my comfort food?" Miss Thomas snatched the bowl away from him like he had attempted to deep fry it. "Did Kairi try to get you to like it again?"

"No," Roxas replied. "We made an agreement. She doesn't make me eat Froot Loops, and I don't force her to like lemon meringue pie."

"Speaking of Kairi, where is she?" Miss Thomas questioned, looking over Roxas like Kairi was hiding behind him.

"Sleeping," he answered. Even to his own ears it sounded like a lie.

Miss Thomas gave him a look.

"Sleeping?" she snorted. "You're joking, right?"

"Nope," Roxas responded honestly. "She's been acting pretty weird lately."

"Hm." Miss Thomas turned on the coffee maker with a worried look on her face. Miss Thomas was almost never worried since she had such a responsible daughter. It was awkward when both fell silent.

Suddenly a thought hit Roxas. The worry spread to him as quickly as it had with Miss Thomas.

"She's not sick, is she?" he said, alarmed.

"Well, she didn't say anything about being sick," Miss Thomas remarked.

"She didn't say anything to me either." Roxas had a memory crawl up on him like a spider—him waking up to a shrieking Kairi in his arms. But Roxas and Kairi had _hugged _before. Not, like, embraced or anything, but hugged, yeah. It shouldn't have been screaming-worthy.

Roxas felt something prickle in his throat. Could this go under the definition of "cuddling"? He shivered. Okay, he admitted, Kairi should've screamed for that, if she considered it "cuddling." A horrible word, really, to describe anything. Maybe if Kairi were an itty bitty baby.

Roxas breathed out slowly. All he could do was hope Kairi knew he didn't do it on purpose.

Then it slowly dawned on him why he had come here in the first place. It had been a dare. Not from Kairi, like he had made her think—from Sora, no less. _"I dare you to stay up all night at Kairi's house." _Idiot.

Wait a second. Was he suggesting something? Was Sora Scott, the class jerk, suggesting something as vile and fake as _love_? Ugh. Roxas needed to have a shower when he got home.

Once again, Mr. Scott had managed to screw up a dare.

"What's wrong, Roxas?" Miss Thomas asked coolly, pouring coffee into a mug and carefully taking a sip.

"Wrong?" Roxas looked up with a supposedly innocent face.

"That face isn't going to fool me anymore, honey. Maybe when you were six, but that was awhile ago. Now tell me what happened to Kairi."

"Happened?" Roxas was staring at her as if daring to say more.

"Come _on_," Miss Thomas sighed very immaturely, tugging on his cheek. "I've known you since you were this tall!" She put her hand way, way, way down, only a little taller than her knee. "You were eating Froot Loops, and you only eat food you hate when you're guilty of something. Also, you had that face on."

"I might've…subconsciously, of course…" Roxas nearly admitted, scratching the back of his head nervously.

And then, as if by a miracle, Kairi came trudging up from the basement, rubbing her eyes sleepily.

"Oh, a welcoming party," she said dazedly. "This is new."

"Kairi, honey, it's ten thirty in the morning," Miss Thomas remarked, quickly dropping her interest off Roxas as her daughter came into view. She walked over and placed an arm around her shoulders. "Do you realize you're three hours and thirty minutes off schedule?"

"Well, if I am, it's his fault," Kairi said, pointing a blaming finger at Roxas. He could feel the blood rush from his face. Well, this was a rather direct conversation, wasn't it?

Kairi sat down on the stool beside his and poured herself a glass of orange juice, but not before slapping his wrist.

"This idiot kept me up until three in the morning with his 'dare'," Kairi snapped, sounding oddly cheerful. "I warned him it would throw me off…"

"Roxas!" Miss Thomas whacked him with a dishtowel. "You _know_ Kairi has a weird impulse to always be on time for things. If you try to breach it, you will only receive pain."

"I've already been through that, thanks," Roxas remarked, rubbing his wrist and trying to ignore the dampness now on his shirt.

"Guess what Roxas ate this morning, Kai-Kai?" Miss Thomas questioned teasingly, leaning on the counter to look at Kairi straight in the eye.

"Um…bacon," Kairi guessed.

Miss Thomas made a noise of a buzzer.

"Wrong-O! He ate Froot Loops!"

Kairi turned to him with raised eyebrows.

"What's up with you?" she asked.

"What's up with _you_?" he replied, angered by the fact her mood had changed dramatically and he had no idea why.

There was a confused silence that followed.

"You usually have better comebacks than that, Roxas," Miss Thomas remarked. "I'm disappointed in you. And I thought I taught you well…"

That wasn't meant to be a comeback. Well, not really.

"Well, I should get going," Roxas remarked, standing up. "My mom…would be worrying."

Lies, lies, and more lies. Roxas's mom barely cared about him at all. In fact, Roxas was pretty sure he was an accident. Even when she wasn't busy and out with her friends, she completely ignored him. His dad was the only one in the household who paid attention to him.

By the looks on their faces, the Thomases didn't believe a word of it. Miss Thomas looked kind of worried, actually—almost as worried as she was a few minutes ago. Kairi looked very suspicious.

"I'll come with you," she announced. "Just let me change."

Darn! Roxas was hoping he could get away from Kairi for a few minutes at least. He wasn't _actually_ planning to go home, but now, it seemed, he had to.

**xXx**

When they stepped out, it was raining. Kairi brought an umbrella along so they both hid under it. Roxas couldn't build up the courage to tell Kairi he didn't actually _want_ to go home, it was just a dumb excuse to get outside.

The walk was in complete silence—very nerve-wracking. When they reached his house, Roxas was almost relieved. Then he saw his mom talking on the phone. He couldn't stand to go in, especially since his dad really _was_ on a business trip.

"She doesn't look like she's worried," Kairi stated from beside him.

"She is inside, I'm sure," Roxas lied.

"Then go in."

"Right. I probably should go in then…"

He stood there. His body wasn't obeying his brain, it seemed.

"Well, go!"

"Yup. Here I go."

He slowly walked towards the door. Kairi followed him with the umbrella so he wouldn't get wet. Finally, standing right at the door he mumbled a "bye" before putting his finger on the doorbell.

"Wait!" Kairi cried. "Don't do it!"

Roxas turned to face her.

"You don't really want to go in, do you?" Kairi chattered, tapping her fingers together and looking at the ground, knowing she lost their unsaid competition. "You've always said your mom hates you! Can't we go to the park or something?"

Roxas smirked by accident—it was actually supposed to be a half-smile. He wasn't really good at those. He'd hoped Kairi would've stopped him, which, he realized, was rather obvious, considering she'd known him since the beginning of time and she was always worrying about him. More of a mother than a friend, as Sora would've said, which is just his way of saying she was precautious and had his back.

"The park sounds great," Roxas remarked, still smirking and wishing he wasn't since he'd been worried about Kairi and was glad to know that she was still her.

"Stop giving me that face!" Kairi snapped, irritated. "Mr. Know-It-All."

"I'll teach you how to insult people later," Roxas said. "Come on. I don't want her to see me."

_Or see right through me. _

**xXx**

Roxas had to lean down to keep under the umbrella without getting totally soaked, but he didn't mind. Rain might make most people be in a bad mood, but the air felt fresh, and the pitter-pattering on the concrete was melodic. Roxas was happy. He wasn't going home…for now, anyway. He wondered if he could just wait it out wandering outside until his father came back. Home wasn't home without him.

"Hey, Kairi," he spoke up, letting his blue eyes wonder over to the redhead. "Got a dare for me?"

"No way!" Kairi shook her head violently. "I gave you that stay up all night dare, didn't I? Why should I give you another one?"

"Actually…you didn't," Roxas admitted. "Sora did. I just acted like it was your idea so you wouldn't get mad at me."

Kairi shoved him out from under her umbrella.

"Idiot," she snapped, violet eyes piercing him.

"Hey, you _did_ get mad, right? And I need a dare from you. Otherwise my circle won't be complete." Roxas smiled hopefully at her.

A moment's silence, and then, suddenly, Kairi looked up.

"Dance," she muttered.

"Eh?" Roxas said. Had he heard her right?

"Go on," she commanded, smiling mischievously. "Dance like a monkey. It's likely you have a smaller brain than one though…"

"I can do the robot," Roxas remarked, and he started doing jerky movements to no particular rhythm.

"You really are stupid." Kairi giggled.

"Hey," Roxas pouted. "A monkey can't do the robot."

More jerky movements. Roxas was getting very wet. His damp, blond hair stuck to his face. His clothes were getting heavy. Even so, he couldn't help but laugh. He probably did look really moronic, while Kairi was standing under her umbrella, dry, mature, and not even dancing.

Dry...like Roxas was going to let that happen.

"Alright, Roxas," Kairi remarked with a slight chirp in her voice. "Enough already. Come back under the umbrella before you get pneumonia."

"How about you come out from under the umbrella and get pneumonia with me?" Roxas suggested, grabbing her arm and pulling her forward, the umbrella temporarily swinging back so Kairi got a little wet.

"Roxas!" Kairi whined, shoving him. "If I catch a cold, I'm blaming it on you!"

"Good," Roxas replied with a smile, grabbing her umbrella and throwing it into a puddle.

"What?! Rox…" Kairi stopped mid-word as Roxas dragged her closer and started swinging her around like a doll in sort of a slow dance.

Kairi's hair was now hanging in dark strings around her face, and she was laughing as if it was the dumbest thing she had ever done.

"We're both getting colds after this, aren't we?" she asked, but she didn't seem to care very much.

"Probably," Roxas said. "Who cares?"

"I wish I had your attitude," Kairi sighed.

"Not when you see my report card," Roxas responded, grinning. "That's a different story, right?"

"I swear, if you just exerted yourself a little more…" Kairi stated, rolling her eyes. "Jeez. You totally have the brains for being smart."

"What happened to being dumber than a monkey?"

"I think you _try_ to be dumber than a monkey, but for sure you're not."

Roxas pinched her cheeks.

"Aw! That could be the nicest thing you ever said to me!" he cooed mockingly.

"Shut up!" Kairi slapped his hands down.

"Give me a hug!" Roxas grabbed her and squeezed her very tightly.

"ARE YOU MENTALLY RETARDED?!" Kairi shrieked, whacking him in the back with her fist.

Roxas laughed and released her from her grip. He examined her face. It was very red. She put a hand to her forehead and took a step back from Roxas.

"Aw…you look lonely," Roxas teased. "You want another hug?"

"_No!"_ Kairi cried a little too forcefully, taking yet another step back.

There was a moment of silence and Kairi picked up her soaked umbrella.

"Let's go back to my house," she said. "Mom probably has lunch ready by now."

"Okay," Roxas agreed, watching as Kairi went back under her umbrella. "That's not really going to help you now."

"It'll reduce my chance of getting a cold," Kairi retorted.

"Okay, whatever," Roxas said, putting up his hands. "I'm fine."

"Suit yourself."

Kairi stalked off down the street while Roxas stood their thinking. What just happened? Roxas wasn't quite sure. Kairi had been acting very weird lately. He shrugged it off and ran after her. It was probably nothing.

**Now, this simple idea of "dares" and stuff is sure to be turned soon, so the dares might collapse a little in later chapters. Just a warning. I need to make this story a little more dramatic than this. Surely the dares will continue, but will be tuned down from the main conflict of the story. **

**Read and review!**

**Ay caramba! **


	6. Chinese Fire Drill

**Disclaimer: I do not own Kingdom Hearts (II), Roxas, Kairi, Naminé, etc. **

**Author's Note: Um...I lied. To not insult Yaoi readers, I said it wasn't so bad to read. But I can't stand reading it either. So I'm sorry! I'm just trying to blend in! (Sobs dramatically) Oh, and this doesn't make me a homophobe. Really. Honestly. Truly.**

**Warning: No progress has been made in this chapter. Unless you look hard enough, which even I haven't done, so...**

**Quick Author Babble: Lollipops, butterflies, and rainbows... **

Chapter 6: Chinese Fire Drill

Kairi let out a gigantic yawn in the middle of history class. History really bored her to no end. It was her worst subject besides geography, and attempting to take notes always resulted in failure. She wondered if she was allowed to take a nap in the middle of class, or if anyone would notice. She had tuned out long ago, but had severe lack of sleep since that sleepover thing. Kairi felt a chill run down her back. No, she _definitely_ didn't want to think about that.

"Kairi?" a voice rang throughout Kairi's head. "Kairi?"

"Psst! Kairi!" She felt an elbow dig into her side. Kairi looked up, alarmed and awake, to find the whole class looking at her and laughing. Beside her, Roxas was looking at her as if she was being sent to the guillotine.

"Kairi, perhaps...maybe...I was thinking you could pay attention more," Miss Gainsborough, the nicest teacher on the planet, remarked quietly. "I was going to ask you about question seven, but..."

The bell rang very loudly. Immediately all the students stood up and made their way to the door, the irritating sound of screeching chairs emanating through the room. Kairi turned red in the face. Of course. This was what she deserved for not paying attention.

"But the bell has just rung," Miss Gainsborough said with a nervous smile. "Maybe...you could try...a little harder?"

Kairi nodded, still very embarrassed, and walked out of the classroom with Roxas trailing after her.

"Kairi, I know you don't like history, but that was..." Roxas began, gesturing towards the classroom with a jerk of his thumb.

"Awful! Terrible! I can't believe I did that!" Kairi slapped a hand over her forehead. "This school year is off to a horrible start! Soon I'll be one of those girls who smokes, takes drugs, and is an alcoholic all in one, big, unhealthy clump, hanging around bars and picking up boys every other day!"

"That's a bit melodramatic," Roxas laughed, walking up to his locker and putting in his combination.

"Oh, what do you know?" Kairi pouted, crossing her arms and glaring at her locker, wondering if she could unlock it with her mind. "You don't worry about anything in the future."

"That's true, but I'm pretty sure I won't be _that_ badly off," Roxas said with a shrug. "Particularly about that picking up boys every other day part..."

Kairi giggled unwillingly and frowned after she did so. She wanted to be in a bad mood. Bad, bad, bad mood.

"Nice to hear you laugh once in a while," Roxas stated, flashing a smile at her.

"Hi, Roxas." A senior, outrageously pretty blonde girl came up to him, flashing a million dollar smile. She had a flirtatious tone in her voice.

Kairi rolled her eyes and sighed. This was where it all began.

"Hi, Naminé," Roxas greeted without a hint of lovesickness in his voice. "How was your summer?"

"Oh, well, it was nothing without you, of course, but..." Naminé began, ready to spill out some poetic words.

"HEY, KAIRI!!"

An outrageously loud voice beckoned Kairi to look up. Yuffie, in all her stubborn glory, threw Kairi's books into her locker for her, slammed it shut, and started dragging her away from the blondes.

"Hey, where are you taking me?" Kairi asked, attempting to pull away from her black-haired friend to no avail.

"I thought you'd want help to get away from Barbie Corner over here," Yuffie replied, glaring at Naminé. The senior glared back.

"Roxas, do you _know_ this brat?" Naminé asked, turning her attention back to the blue-eyed boy.

"Yes, I do," Roxas answered bluntly. "She is one of my best friends."

Yuffie produced a glowing smile to throw at Naminé. In reply, she rolled her eyes and made a face.

"Well, I guess it doesn't matter who you hang out with," Naminé sighed dreamily. "You're still Roxas. Catch you later, honey cakes."

She stroked his shoulder before walking away. Yuffie looked like she was going to explode with her pent-up laughter.

"Yeah, catch you later, honey cakes!" she called over her shoulder as she tugged Kairi to the cafeteria.

"Hey, you guys, wait up!" Roxas cried after them.

"Look, it's Roxas!"

"Hi, Roxas!"

"Like my new outfit?"

Yuffie made a gagging noise. Kairi laughed. Yuffie had always been against the dunces who flirted with Roxas all the time. She treated them like flies, and she most definitely was the flyswatter. It was just in her nature. She couldn't help it.

"I swear, these girls are getting ditzier every year," Yuffie complained. "I mean, did you see the way she talked? _Honey cakes_? Jeez, what was that? Let alone her outfit! I swear those skirts are getting less and less cloth everyday. Poor companies are probably running out of spending money."

Kairi sighed. It was true. Kairi didn't even like _wearing_ skirts, let alone making them so short they might as well be there.

"A centimeter shorter and we'd be able to see their underwear," Kairi agreed, nodding. It only bugged her a _little_ when they approached Roxas like that. Just a little bit.

"Ugh! And let's not forget the strapless shirts! Soon they'll be coming to school in nothing but a bra and panties. Probably already are on the other side of the world."

Kairi pulled at her long-sleeved shirt self-consciously and looked down at her jeans. Wasn't autumn the time for wearing things like what she was wearing? Weren't those girls freezing? They must go through a lot of effort to wear those things.

"Oh, well," Yuffie sighed. "At least we know _we're_ sensible. We don't follow along with the crowd, right, Kairi?"

Kairi was now watching as one from the ditzy crowd came dangerously close to Roxas. She grit her teeth. It wasn't bothering her. Not in the least bit.

"Kairi? Hellooooo? Is anybody in there?" Yuffie waved a hand in front of her face.

"Oh, uh, yeah." Kairi looked up and smiled. "Totally."

Yuffie frowned and rolled her eyes.

"I know they bug you, Kai, when they get close to Roxas like that. They bug me too. But you've got to get over it. You know Roxas. No matter what people think, he isn't one of _those_ guys." Yuffie directed an accusing finger to the football star of the school, Riku Allen. He had a fan club of his own there. Not as big as Roxas's, but he seemed to be enjoying it a lot more as girls surrounded him.

"Yeah. At the very least." Kairi smiled and consoled herself with Yuffie's words. Right. Roxas would never get close to girls like that, not in a million years. But then that would be like admitting it was bugging her. She shook her head to clear her mind of such thoughts and linked arms with Yuffie. "Come on. I'm hungry!"

**xXx**

Kairi poked at her hamburger, examining it warily. She was pretty sure there weren't supposed to be any green chunks in it. She hadn't ordered the veggie burger, had she...?

A tray slammed down beside her. At the sudden noise, Kairi jumped at least a foot in the air. Roxas was looking at her most piercingly.

"You two," he muttered with compressed rage, now directing his glare to Yuffie, "didn't wait!"

"Of course we didn't wait," Yuffie responded dully, resting her chin on her hand. "You had a meeting with your fan club. We assumed you were busy."

"Yeah, not to mention Malibu Barbie over there," Kairi added, looking at Naminé sitting at the far table in the corner. "She is so madly in love with you it's pathetic."

"Oh, getting jealous, are we?" Roxas slid into his seat and smiled at Kairi teasingly. "How adorable!"

Kairi was preparing her comeback, but Yuffie already had it handled.

"She is certainly not jealous of the Let's-Show-Our-Underwear-To-The-Entire-Student-Body Queen!" she snapped. "Do you seriously want to hang around a ditz like her, let alone all of her followers?"

"Of course not. I'd much rather hang around with you guys." He pulled Kairi into a headlock to prove it. "But I can't be rude. You have to admit, my face is pretty hard to resist."

"This has nothing to do with your face, Pretty Boy," Yuffie retorted. "I bet you like all those girls swarming around you, threatening you with their micro-mini skirts and sleeveless tops and hair spray and make-up..."

Yuffie went into a whole rant as Roxas and Kairi exchanged glances. Yuffie _really_ didn't approve of the student body's rating of popularity, which was weird considering she was an athlete and all, so she wasn't _un_popular or anything. Kairi guessed it was because of Roxas and all his "special attention."

"C'mon, Yuff." Kairi finally stopped her halfway through her spiel with a light giggle in her voice. "Like you said before, Roxas isn't that type of person. As long as he's still Roxas, he's _ours_. Period."

"So selfish," Roxas sighed mockingly.

"Speaking of selfish, where's Sora?" Yuffie inquired, bobbing her head this way and that to try and find her friend in the crowded lunch room. "Usually he's the first to come and eat!"

Kairi shrugged. She hadn't seen Sora the whole day.

"Maybe he's sick," she suggested.

"We would've heard about it by now," Roxas disagreed. "Sora doesn't leave his presence unnoticed."

Suddenly, the cafeteria doors burst open and Sora pranced in with a gloating smile on his face. Was it just Kairi, or were lights shining behind him?

"Told you," Roxas whispered.

"Kairi!" he called out, running over to the table. "My love!"

Kairi tried to ignore all the eyes watching her.

"Er...um...hi, Sora. Things going well?" she asked.

"Yes, all because of you, you redheaded genius!" he sang, scooping her up into a waltz.

Kairi was decidedly uncomfortable. She smiled nervously at the brunet.

"Really?" she asked. "And why, exactly, did I deserve that compliment, oh mighty one?"

"I just found my report card from last year at the bottom of my backpack," Sora explained, dancing a little faster. "My average is eighty-nine percent, unlike the year before with my seventy-five percent! All because you tutored me! Thanks!"

"Oh...uh..." Kairi was a little flustered by Sora's sunny side. "You're welcome."

There was a tap on Sora's shoulder.

"May I cut in?" Roxas questioned politely, watching as Sora let go of Kairi and let Roxas take over.

"Come on, guys," Kairi muttered, blushing. "We're getting too much attention."

All the girls in the cafeteria were glaring up at her. If looks could kill, Kairi probably would've spontaneously combusted minutes ago. Roxas lifted up his arm.

"Twirl," he commanded, and Kairi could do nothing but obey. "Maybe we should have a belated party for Sora and his long lost grades! I mean, who knew Sora _wasn't_ a complete idiot?"

Sora glared.

"Don't ruin his positivity just yet, Roxas," Kairi hissed. "I sort of like it."

"Yeah, that sounds like fun!" Yuffie beamed. "Let's have it after school today! Maybe we could—"

Unfortunately, Yuffie was cut off from her party plans when the intercom made a loud, screeching noise. The students winced. Roxas and Kairi stopped dancing mid-step.

"_Good afternoon, students," _a long, bored voice drawled. _"This is your principal speaking." _

"Not Xemnas again!" Kairi made a face.

"You mean Manse—" Roxas was about to correct her when the principal continued.

"_Surely we have all noticed the clothing—or should I say lack of clothing?—problem this year. To eliminate this conflict, the school board has ordered that Destiny High have a required uniform. For the girls, a white, collared shirt, blue checkered necktie, and blue checkered kilt with stockings and black dress shoes. For boys, a white, collared shirt, blue checkered necktie, and blue checkered pants with white socks and black dress shoes. You will be required to purchase these uniforms by the end of this week. Thank you." _

There was another wailing sound before the intercom turned off. And then, all in unison, the student body let out a helpless groan. Kairi covered her face with her hands.

"What's your problem, Kairi?" Yuffie asked, looking extra cheerful. "This is going to keep those girls from wearing those things like before!"

"I don't want to wear a kilt," Kairi groaned, collapsing back in her seat. "I don't like wearing skirts. Period."

"Well, then you'll get used to it!" Yuffie chirped, putting her hands over Kairi's and hopping up and down. "It's the perfect excuse to start! This is great! We'll never have to worry about ditzy and ditzier ever again!"

Kairi smiled and tried to share her friends enthusiasm. She really tried.

**xXx**

"Remember, guys, I can't go on the highway," Sora explained. "And we can't wait until it's dark. It's got to be before dinner that we leave."

"Yeah, yeah." Yuffie waved her hand impatiently. "To the ice cream parlor and home. No stops. We get it."

Kairi sat beside Roxas in the backseat and tried not to be worried. How good a driver was Sora, exactly? Because she personally did not know. Roxas looked very much relaxed. _Too_ relaxed. Kairi wanted to hit him with something.

"Okay, off we go!" Yuffie exclaimed, bouncing up and down.

Sora started the car and pulled out of the school parking lot. After a few minutes, Kairi decided Sora _wasn't_ such a bad driver after all. Her heart calmed and she felt very relieved. Roxas started laughing. Kairi looked at him quizzically.

"You were worried, weren't you?" he asked with that all-knowing smile on his face.

Kairi stuck out her tongue and turned to look back out of the car window. The problem with being friends with someone for a long time made them know you a little too well.

"Roxas! Roxas! I've got a dare for you!" Yuffie sang out, turning to face Roxas.

Oh, no. Kairi let her forehead connect with the car window.

"Really?" Roxas leaned forward a bit, eyebrows raised in interest.

"Well, actually a dare for all of us," Yuffie explained, a devious smile permanently imprinted on her face. "A Chinese fire drill."

"What's that?" Sora asked, sounding only half-interested.

"You know, when the car gets stopped by a red light, everyone gets out and trades places in the car," Yuffie informed him.

Kairi looked at her and wondered if that could be dangerous. She could see Sora's blue eyes widen in the mirror.

"What?!" he cried. "Are you crazy?! I am _not_ going to let someone else drive my car!"

"Let me drive!" Yuffie pleaded. "I've been taking lessons and I have a driver's license and everything! _Please?_"

"But...I..." Sora spluttered, looking into Yuffie's wide, puppy dog eyes. "Alright. But only if it's you, since they don't have licenses yet."

"I haven't gotten around to it!" Roxas cried protectively. "I will this weekend! You'll see!"

Kairi shrugged. Seeing her unenthusiasm, Roxas seized her arm and pulled her over to face the others.

"Kairi's going to participate in this one, aren't you, Kai?" he said, more an order than a question.

"I guess..." Kairi muttered.

"Look! There's a red light!" Yuffie exclaimed, pointing.

Sora pulled to a stop. Roxas threw open the door and dragged Kairi out with him, looking ahead to see that Yuffie and Sora had done the same. Yuffie quickly got into the driver's seat and Roxas sat himself down in the front seat. Kairi just sat down where Roxas was sitting and Sora joined her in her previous area.

Just as the last door was slammed shut, the red light turned green. Everyone cheered. Even Kairi couldn't help but smile in the least bit. It had been rather stupid, what she had just done, but incredulously hilarious.

Roxas pivoted in his seat and grabbed Kairi's wrist, making her pump up her fist in victory.

"Having fun?" he asked as she laughed.

Her smiled sheepishly.

"Yeah."

**I. Am. Sad. Summer is almost over and I can't do anything to make up for the rest of my lagging summer because all my friends are busy. I feel like crying. Boo, hoo, hoo. **

**Someone save me from this eternal loneliness!**

**Read and review!**

**Goodniiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiight!**


	7. Road Trip

**Disclaimer: I do not own Kingdom Hearts (II), Roxas, Kairi, Selphie, etc. **

**Author's Note: I just got back from camping about six hours ago, and I must say, I have underestimated a good shower for too long, my friends, let alone a clean bathroom and a bed with a mattress. Ah…Now, you must be thinking, "Why would this person write a whole chapter in six hours? Does she have no life?" Well, the answer is I very much have a life, and I didn't write this in six hours. In fact, I tied this chapter up in the end about fifteen minutes ago. I started writing this two weeks ago, therefore I had quite a lot to work off of. **

**Warning: Pigs may fly. **

**Quick Author Babble: I like running water…**

Chapter 7: Road Trip

Roxas watched the clock closely as class drawled on, ignoring Selphie's babbling into his ear. It was Friday. School seemed to go extra slowly on Fridays to make him wait longer for the weekend, those precious two days of freedom that should be treasured by all students.

"And so Brittany was like, 'nuh uh!' and I was like 'yuh huh!'" Selphie chattered, reminding Roxas of a chipmunk. "And so I was like 'Brittany, you are a total…'"

Fortunately, Roxas never got to hear what Brittany was because the bell rang. He stood up instantly, gathered his books, and ran out before Selphie or the teacher had a chance to say anything.

Roxas walked over to his locker, put one hand on the door to keep him steady, and rammed his head against the hard metal multiple times.

"Roxas!" a chirpy voice behind him cried.

Roxas jumped back and slammed back against his locker in fright.

"What?" he gasped.

Kairi threw him a look. Roxas coughed and disconnected himself from his locker.

"What's up with you?" she asked, twisting the dial on her lock.

Roxas gestured for her to lean in.

"She's _everywhere,_" he whispered, eyes wide.

"Who?" asked Kairi, too loudly for comfort.

"Ssssh!" he hissed. He looked around warily then jabbed his thumb in the direction of the chestnut-haired girl, who looked at him and waved.

"Hi, Roxas!" she chirped.

"Er…hi, Selphie," he responded, less than happy. "How's it going?"

"Just fine!" Selphie turned back to her group of friends who giggled and kept sending side glances to him. Roxas made a face and turned back to Kairi.

"Awful, horrible, big-mouthed…" he spieled, prickling at the very fact she was talking to him.

Kairi rolled her eyes and took her backpack from her locker, slinging it over her shoulder with a look of displeasure.

"What?" Roxas asked, feeling a little defensive.

"Well, it's not like she's the only girl chasing you," Kairi muttered. "And she's far better than all the rest. I don't see why you're being so mean to her."

"Why _I'm_ being so…?" He stopped before he could say the last word and slammed his hand against the locker. "She's the most annoying girl on the planet! She got me into _detention_ with her freaking talking, for Pete's sake! Aren't I allowed to feel _some_ hatred?"

Kairi threw him a dull look. She didn't look angry as she usually did when Roxas was trying to fire up an argument.

"All I'm saying is that you could do worse than her," she said calmly, closing her locker with a gentle swish.

"What are you…?" he began, raising his voice, before Kairi gestured to Naminé, who was smiling saucily at him.

Roxas scratched the back of his head as Kairi gave him an I-told-you-so sort of look.

"Okay, so Naminé's a little ditzy," he admitted, "but at least she doesn't make me want to tear my hair out."

"She makes up for it when Yuffie comes along," Kairi retorted. "Besides, people like her are what made us wear school uniforms in the first place."

Roxas sighed but didn't have anything else to say. It was true, unfortunately.

"Speaking of school uniforms…" Kairi continued, changing the subject, "I bought mine today."

She held up a plastic package with her uniform in it. Roxas examined it and made his face.

"I refuse to wear anything like that," he snapped. "This is so stupid. I don't see why _guys_ have to wear the uniform. It's the girls that are causing the problem."

Kairi coughed and gave him a death glare.

"E-Excluding you, of course," he added quickly.

"I knew you would say that," Kairi stated, "that's why I bought yours too."

She chucked another plastic package at him. Roxas let out fall to the ground.

"Oops," he said sarcastically.

"Pick it up," Kairi ordered, rolling her eyes. "You're such a baby."

Roxas obliged, cursing under his breath as he threw the wretched thing into his backpack.

"Why'd you bother?" he snapped. "I hate it."

"You should be thanking me!" Kairi exclaimed, kicking him in the shin. "I was going to get two uniforms just in case but yours cost too much!"

"Okay, okay," Roxas sighed, rubbing his leg and wincing. He placed his "Prince Charming" smile that usually got the girls swooning on his face. "Thank you."

Kairi admonished him for a second, eyelids lowered.

"Don't use that smile on me!" she cried, kicking him a second time. "Idiot."

Kairi then promptly walked away, backpack bouncing up and down behind her. Roxas sighed. He should have known better than to try to fool Kairi. She was different from the others. She'd known him _way_ too long.

"Wait! Kairi!" He got up off the floor and winced as he ran on his hurting leg. Then, hopping awkwardly behind the redhead, he managed to talk to her again. "Want to go to the movies with me, Yuffie, and Sora tomorrow?"

"Sorry," Kairi apologized, looking over her shoulder at him. "I can't make it."

"You can't make it?" Roxas stopped for a second. When he realized Kairi was showing no signs of waiting for him, he sprinted after her. "What do you mean? What do you have to do?"

"I'm going to my uncle's house for the weekend," Kairi explained. "It's his birthday and I want to surprise him."

"Wait a second." Roxas grabbed Kairi's shoulder and she turned to look at him. "Uncle Axel?"

She nodded slowly, watching his expression carefully, as if he was going crazy.

"Doesn't he live on Star Island?" Roxas asked, remembering Kairi mentioning him once upon a time.

"Yeah," Kairi replied.

"What? There's a huge chunk of ocean between Destiny Islands and there! How are you supposed to get there?"

"I'm taking the ferry," Kairi answered, sounding protective.

Roxas slapped his hand to his forehead at the girl's stubbornness. Had his friend gone stupid?

"The ferry dock is on the other side of the island, for Pete's sake!" he cried. "How are you supposed to get there? You can't drive!"

"I'm taking the bus! Why is this so hard for you to understand?"

"The bus?!" Roxas looked at her in disbelief. "Do you realize how long that will take? It will take you a whole day just to get to the dock itself!"

Kairi looked at him with wide, violet eyes. They showed realization.

"You're right. I'll miss his birthday!" She slapped her forehead, looking sickened with herself. "I'm so stupid! What am I going to do?"

Kairi leaned against the wall and hid her face in her hands. Roxas felt his impatience drift away. He knew Kairi's uncle, Axel, was very close to her, and sort of replaced her father in a way. He was sort of bizarre from what Roxas gathered, but loved Kairi very much, as if he was her direct family.

"Well…" He sighed and ran a hand through his hair. "I've sort of got an idea."

Kairi looked up at him with red eyes, urging him to go on.

"Sora's a rather experienced driver, isn't he?" he muttered. "If we could convince him to drive you to the ferry dock, it shouldn't be a problem."

Kairi nodded slowly, but she still seemed to be thinking about something.

"But…Sora can't drive on the highway…" she remarked, kicking a loose tile with the tip of her shoe. "He's only sixteen, remember?"

"What about your mom?" Roxas asked.

Kairi shook her head.

"She's going to volunteer at a homeless shelter, or so she says," Kairi stated. "I know she's going to our cottage. She always goes to it before the blustery weather kicks in, and every time her excuse is something about volunteering."

Normally Roxas would've laughed at such a thing because it sounded very much like something that Miss Thomas would do, but the look on Kairi's face prevented him from doing so.

"I…don't know then…" He felt guilty for running out of ideas. He'd always thought his saying was "where there's a will, there's a way", but maybe he'd have to change that to "where there's an obvious plan, there's a way".

"Excuse me," a voice from behind them said, scaring both Kairi and Roxas half to death. "I couldn't help but overhear. You can't get a ride, you say?"

Who was this? Roxas couldn't place the voice, but he'd definitely heard it before. He didn't like the creeping sensation going up his spine. He turned awkwardly to face a tall boy (was he a boy? He looked a little older to be under the definition of "boy") with long, silver hair, pale skin, and piercing, aquamarine eyes.

"Riku!" cried Kairi, violet eyes widening with what Roxas hoped was horror.

"Hello, Kairi," Riku greeted with a too friendly smile, then sort of glanced at Roxas. "Roxas."

Roxas couldn't help but notice that Riku's tone when he'd greeted him was very fed up and bored. He felt the sudden urge to grab Kairi and run.

"So…uh…" Kairi stuttered, turning as red as her hair with a he-knows-my-name expression on her face.

"What do you want?" Roxas interrupted, meeting Riku's gaze at him with a glare of his own.

"Roxas!" He felt Kairi's astonished look on him. He ignored it. He'd heard all about Riku and his awfulness and had received too many reports from girls who had been played by him to care about his rudeness.

"Well, I'm eighteen, you see," Riku continued with that easygoing voice of his, turning his attention back to Kairi. "Driver's license and everything. It also comes along with highway privileges, no experienced driver in the front needed."

For a quick second, he threw a gloating smile at Roxas, and then looked back at Kairi. Kairi hadn't noticed, obviously, because she was staring at Riku with hope, wishing with all her heart that he wasn't just doing this to tease her.

"I have nothing to do tomorrow," he said. "I could drive you to the ferry dock, if you'd like."

Roxas's blood ran cold. He looked at Kairi in desperation. Oh, wonderful, responsible Kairi, please say no and that you can't ride with strangers.

"Yes!" she exclaimed, jumping up and down in excitement. "Thank you so, so much! You don't know how much this means to me!"

Roxas felt like ramming his head into the wall. Stupid, irresponsible Kairi! Couldn't she understand anything?

"No problem. Just doing my part." With another smug smile, Riku took his departure.

Roxas scowled after him. He didn't want to know his devious thoughts. He wanted to lie down and take care of the pounding headache he was getting.

"Well, Riku's not so bad after all," Kairi said with a smile. "I should tell Yuffie."

"Wh-wh-what…" Roxas smacked his head to get the words out. "What were you thinking?!"

Kairi looked at him with deer-in-the-headlights eyes.

"What?" she asked innocently.

"What do you mean, _what_?!" Roxas could feel his voice rising and he was doing nothing to control it. "Do you realize who that was?! It was _Riku_! Riku _Allen_! That idiot who gets girls into bed and then disappears! Do you know what he'll do to you?! He's going to freaking _rape_ you!"

The hallway fell silent. Roxas's voice echoed again and again. He wasn't sure if it was just in his head or if it was actually bouncing back from the walls. Kairi opened her mouth as if she was going to talk, then reconsidered and grabbed his wrist and dragged him down the stairs, where she promptly pulled him out of the building.

"Where are we going?" Roxas demanded, feeling a little exhausted.

"To somewhere uninhabited," Kairi responded, continuing to walk forward without looking at him. "If you're going to be that loud, we can't have people around."

"Forget about that!" Roxas pulled his arm away from her grip fiercely, staring her down with what he hoped to be an intimidating gaze. "I can't believe you accepted his offer! Do you realize you're going to be in a confined space with him by yourself for _hours_? Riku isn't a nice guy, Kairi! He's going to try something! Not every guy is like me, you know!"

Kairi frowned.

"You're talking to me as if I'm five," she said accusingly.

"Well, you're _acting_ like you're five!" Roxas hissed.

"I can take care of myself, Roxas," Kairi replied dully. "And if you haven't noticed, I've been taking care of both of us for years. It's not like I'm going just for the ride. It's for Uncle Axel. So stop acting like you're mature and just stay out of this! I'm going!"

Roxas took in a gulp of air before lolling his head back and sighing. Women.

"So you're going with him no matter what I say."

"Basically, yes."

"Okay, fine. Then I'm going with you."

Kairi glared at him.

"No, you're not."

"Yes, I am."

"No, you're not," she said with finality in her tone. "I'm not going to let you baby me until you can trust me completely."

"I trust _you_! I just don't trust Riku!"

"Then trust me to be careful."

Roxas looked directly into her eyes before sighing and kicking a pebble into the parking lot.

"Fine." He was unconvinced. He knew she was making a bad decision. But how could he stop her when she was so stubborn? If she wouldn't let him come along, then he didn't know what else to do, and he hated it more than anything.

"Good." Kairi smiled and put her hands on her hips. "Let's go get some doughnuts."

"Doughnuts are your solution for everything," Roxas mumbled, rolling his eyes. What was he going to do with this girl?

"Their sweetness cures all bad atmospheres." Kairi's enlightened smile broke through Roxas's tenseness. He sighed and grumbled something here and there before following behind her.

He eyed the red-haired girl with slight irritation. She walked exactly the opposite way of how he walked. Her steps showed pride, importance, and confidence, while his showed uncertainty, worry, and the most obvious frustration. It was usually the opposite way around and the feeling of expectation clawed at his stomach, the way it usually did when he saw opportunities do something exciting and daring, except this time it was icy cold.

How long had he known Kairi? About ten years, perhaps a little more. She knew him better than his own mother. He knew her so well it was like a routine to wake up, call her, fight about something stupid, make up, and get nagged about something or other. She was acting totally different recently. Overreacting, blushing, _taking chances_. What was that about?

Well, it didn't matter. If Riku did anything to Kairi…Roxas could feel his fingers ball up into a fist. He watched as his best friend broke into some dumb song made up on the spot about doughnuts. He wondered if Kairi realized what she was getting herself into.

He breathed out cold, autumn air before plastering a fake smile on his face and singing the chorus to the moronic limerick along with Kairi, telling himself to be lighthearted. Nothing would happen. Not if he had something to do about it.

**Bonjour!! I just wanted everyone to know that I'm very happy and hyper and feel like reading **_**Ella Enchanted**_** five times over, because I am just that creepy and I have NOTHING ELSE TO READ!! Wahoo! **

**Read and review!**

**Watermelon, coconut, BIG BANANA!!**


	8. 2:00am

**Disclaimer: I do not own Kingdom Hearts (II), Roxas, Kairi, Axel, etc.**

**Author's Note: Hello! I realize I haven't updated in awhile and you must be pretty freaking mad at me. But please don't be! Since school has started my writing flow has been officially crushed. Also, I had no idea what to do with this story. I will next chapter though. Mwa, ha, ha. (Evil planning)**

**Warning: Slight Axel bashing. But I only do it because I love him. **

**Quick Author Babble: Fact – Did you know the only reason I bought my first Kingdom Hearts game was because of the Disney scenes in the television ads? **

Chapter 8: 2:00am

Kairi rubbed her eyes sleepily as she sat looking at her open journal. There were too many thoughts to put down. Besides, she would never find the right words to describe what she was feeling. Roxas's voice kept ringing in her head again and again:

"_He's going to freaking __**rape**__ you!" _

The utter ferocity in his voice was startling enough, but his poor choice of words, the volume, and the sheer intensity in his expression while he was speaking was not only convincing, but a little terrifying. It was so strange to have him say such things to her when she'd been looking after him all these years…

So who, exactly, had been caring for whom all this time?

It was true Kairi was a girl, and therefore lacking in strength to fight off violent bullies and things, but Roxas was just so plain _stupid_. His reckless frame of mind always got him into trouble, and his need to always do something exciting and new usually resulted in injury, and not just for himself. His good looks and constant praise gave him a swelled head and a false feeling of invincibility.

But recently, Kairi had been thinking differently about him. Since their big argument yesterday, Roxas's usual cheerfulness seemed to have faded. His eyes were always downcast; his mouth in a permanent frown, and the list of dares seemed to have fallen completely from their list of conversation topics. It was a little worrying. Certainly he wasn't still worried about Riku…?

Was he?

Kairi sighed. She, too, had been worrying a little about it, in all honesty. Riku was basically a stranger to her. All she'd heard about him was bad things—about how he'd take a girl up and drop her as soon as he'd gotten her into bed, how he'd torture freshmen for fun, and how many a teacher had quit because they weren't able to deal with him. In fact, the only reason she'd accepted his offer was because Roxas was telling her _not_ to, which may have seemed a little childish.

Kairi had her pride, in one way or another. Roxas couldn't tell her what to do after she'd seen how many times he'd been sent to the principal's office, broken bones, and been flirted with by girls. She would be fine. She'd show him.

In fact, now that Kairi thought about it, very little of this dumb decision of hers was because of her uncle. She _did_ love Uncle Axel and wouldn't miss his birthday for the world, but at the same time, more pressing situations were upon her.

She yawned and collapsed on a blank page. What time was it? She looked at her bedside clock and groaned. The red numbers were glowing 2:00, and yet she couldn't sleep. She felt…awful.

Suddenly there was a tapping at her window. Kairi shot up. Roxas was sitting on her windowsill with a familiar smile on his face. The shock at him being there temporarily paralyzed her. It seemed that no matter what mood he was in, Roxas couldn't avoid doing his boyish antics.

She moved slowly towards the window and unlatched it, pulling open the two glass doors.

"Rox—?" She began to ask a question, but could not finish because she was suddenly pinned against her bedroom wall.

Her eyes widened with shock at how close Roxas's face was and how firmly he was holding her down. What was he thinking? Was this another stupid dare? Some sort of prank?

His narrowed, blue eyes were telling her otherwise though. They were the very definition of seriousness. Not even a sign of a practical joke was around her, and it made her even more nervous.

"Are you scared?" he whispered. His warm breath made her skin tingle.

Kairi was fully ready to reply "yes", or scream, or _something_, but the thought of her mom walking in to find Roxas holding her against the wall made her change her mind.

"W-What are you doing, Roxas?" Kairi tried her best to hide the quiver in her voice, but her eyes felt teary and she knew she would be shaking if her limbs could move.

"What do you think I'm doing?" he replied, and he leaned in so his lips temporarily brushed her ear.

Okay, if Kairi knew the best time to scream, it would be now. But her voice escaped her. A lump grew in her throat that she could not swallow. Her eyes began to hurt.

"R-Roxas…this isn't f-funny…" Kairi choked, her voice high-pitched.

"Who's trying to be funny?" he asked, looking at her.

Kairi's lip quivered. She tried to keep a cool head but it was impossible. Her attempts at moving were hopeless. Her strength was undoubtedly outmatched. Maybe she was having a nightmare. Maybe Roxas was just a really good actor. It had to be one of the two, because he had never seemed so frightening in her life.

"I…I…Ro…Rox…" She couldn't speak, no matter how hard she tried. There was something wrong with her. A tear slid down her cheek. Kairi had never cried because of Roxas since she was six, and she had never exactly planned to, but this was more than she could take.

Roxas was looking at her, but his steely glare was slowly fading away to reveal his normal, friendly-looking eyes. The frown dissipated into something of a look of melancholy. His grip loosened just enough so Kairi could reveal that she was shivering. Finally, he let go of her all together.

Kairi nearly fell over but caught herself in the nick of time. She stood on wobbly knees, not daring to move from her designated spot, almost not daring to breathe. She watched Roxas with deer-in-the-headlights eyes, trying to decipher what was happening even with a shaken mind.

"Sorry," he apologized, sounding very sincere. "Come here."

Kairi didn't know if she could manage walking right then, so Roxas just walked forward and gave her a brief but meaningful hug.

"I just wanted you to think," he remarked. "If I could do that, imagine all the things Riku could do."

Kairi found her heart beating ten times faster than regular at the words. She didn't want to think about it. Her head would explode.

"'Night, Kairi." He climbed out of the window, and then he was gone.

Kairi's eyes were bulging so far out of her sockets that they were at risk at falling right out of her head. Her knees finally gave way beneath her and she collapsed on the carpet. The remnants of salty water that remained were quickly wiped away. She tremulously reached for her journal, feeling her fingertips clumsily brush a page or two. Taking off the cap of her pen, she scribbled a single word:

_Whoa._

**xXx**

After two hours of attempting to sleep, Kairi finally managed to get her brain to rest. She had an overly vivid dream about Roxas, so she woke up rather shakily and gulped down half a glass of cold water before splashing the rest on her face. After that, she had an overly vivid nightmare about Riku, so she woke up and refused to go back to sleep again. Then, while she was writing in her journal, the heaviness of her eyelids overtook her and she fell asleep right there in the chair. Luckily, the rest of her night was dreamless. However, she was woken at six in the morning by her phone, which she tried to ignore but it kept ringing incessantly until she had no choice but to pick up.

"Hello?" Kairi's voice sounded bleary and a little stoned.

"KAIRI, I REFUSE TO LET YOU DO THIS! HOW COULD YOU POSSIBLY ACCEPT SUCH A STUPID OFFER?! I THOUGHT YOU WERE A RELATIVELY INTELLIGENT INDIVIDUAL! I THOUGHT YOU UNDERSTOOD THE IDIOTICNESS OF LIFE!"

"Yuffie…?" Kairi sat up a little straighter in her chair at the familiar voice.

"YOU CAN BET IT'S ME, YOU STUPID, MORONIC, IMPUDENT, LITTLE REDHEAD!" Yuffie roared. "ROXAS JUST TOLD ME WHAT HAPPENED! DRIVING TO STAR ISLAND WITH RIKU ALLEN! WHAT COULD YOU POSSIBLY BE THINKING?!"

"Roxas doesn't wake up this early…" Kairi muttered, blinking dully at the clock showing 6:03am.

"HE DIDN'T SLEEP, OKAY?!" Yuffie bellowed. "HE HAD DARN GOOD REASONS NOT TO!"

"No, _I_ had good reasons not to," Kairi snapped back. "And stop yelling or you'll wake up my mom."

"Fine," Yuffie hissed, "but I'm warning you, Kairi Thomas, you are going to regret this. He'll skin you alive, that freak of nature."

"Riku's _not_ a freak of nature, Yuffie," Kairi replied. "If you ask me, we're the freaks here. Do you even know what Roxas did to me last night?"

"What?" Yuffie snapped. "Did he suck your blood or something?"

"Close," Kairi admitted.

"Oh." There was a pause before Yuffie spoke again. "Did he do something naughty?"

"You are one twisted human being," Kairi remarked.

"This is true," Yuffie agreed. "So what did he do?"

"Well…"

_Ding dong!_

The excited ring of the doorbell echoed through the small house. Kairi stopped talking, eyes wide.

"Was that the doorbell?" Yuffie asked.

"Yes."

"At _this_ time?" Yuffie sounded surprised.

"I'm a little curious about that myself."

"If it's Riku, call me. I'll bring my bat."

"Okay. Bye, Yuffie."

"See you, Kai-Kai!"

As Kairi pressed the END button on her phone, the doorbell rang ecstatically again. She had a million guesses to who that was. Roxas coming to be all creepy again? Riku coming to take her away with his scary demeanor? Yuffie with her baseball bat?

When the doorbell rang a third time, there was an upset coming from her mom's room.

"KAIRI! WHO THE HECK IS THAT AT THIS TIME?!" a gravelly voice erupted. Kairi winced and tiptoed out of her bedroom. Her mom wasn't exactly an early riser.

"Sorry, Mom," she whispered as she passed her mom's room. She got a grumble of discontent in response.

Kairi crept down the stairs and walked over to the door. She touched the doorknob and paused for a moment. Did she _want_ to know who was behind that door? She took a breath, closed her eyes, tapped her foot twice against the floor and threw open the wooden gate of death.

"Kairi!" A pair of long, muscular arms encompassed her in a tight embrace—it was so pressing that she could hardly breathe. But, she had to admit, she hadn't been expecting what she got.

"Uncle…Axel…?" Kairi gasped between squeezes.

"Yes!" replied the man in a sing-song voice. He let go of her and took a step back, grinning ear-to-ear. Uncle Axel was a bit bizarre-looking. He had spiky, vibrant, red hair, electric green eyes, and wore sort of gothic make-up. In fact, it was a bit strange in itself that a grown man would wear make-up in the first place. However, he was fun and loving, despite the creepy, stalker look to him. "And how's my favorite niece doing?"

"Oh, just fine," Kairi replied with a smile.

"Well, isn't that wonderful?" Axel answered cheerfully. Kairi had a million things to ask him. Why was he here? How did he get here? And did he know he was officially her hero? But before she had the chance to ask, he reached out and pinched her cheek…hard.

"Ow!" Kairi pulled away quickly, holding her hand over her swelled face. "That hurt!"

"Good," Axel scolded. "You liar! You've been _fine_, huh? Then how come you're taking rides with strangers, you conniving, little schemer? How come your best friend hasn't slept the whole night because he's been distraught with worry? How come you're trying to lose your innocence in such a stupid and inappropriate manner? Oh, Kairi…" Axel melodramatically wiped a tear from his eye. "Where have I gone wrong?"

"H-How did you know about all of this?!" Kairi cried, horrorstricken.

"Simple," Axel said. "Roxas called me. He told me _everything_—the risks you took to visit me on your birthday, Riku the lady killer, your sudden need for danger…"

"ROXAS TOLD YOU?!" Kairi shrieked.

"Hush now," Axel remarked, putting a finger to his lips. "Knowing my sister, she's still sleeping."

"But…but…that idiot!" Kairi yelled. "I'll tell you what _he _did!" And before she knew it, she was off into a tirade, cursing Roxas to his death, and muttering about all the things he did and said, and just how plain _stupid_ he was. Axel listened patiently, nodding and giving an "uh huh" or a "mhm" every ten seconds or so. Finally, Kairi released a breath and allowed Axel to speak.

"Roxas is a good boy indeed," Axel remarked, nodding.

"Ah! But! Uncle Ax…" Kairi was shocked by this answer and almost couldn't believe she wasn't screaming by then.

"But now there is no need to worry," Axel said, pulling out two suitcases from who-knows-where, "because your favorite uncle is _here_!"

There was an eruption of petals behind him…at least Kairi was pretty sure there was. Whoa. Maybe Axel's hairspray was causing her to hallucinate.

"Uh…okay…but…" Kairi began, preparing to say something.

"Yes, yes, I love you too." Axel cut her off and they swished right past her. "And I'll be sure to make myself at home!" he added as he skipped up the stairs.

"Don't wake up…" Kairi started to command, but suddenly there was a scream from upstairs.

"YOU!!!" cried Mrs. Thomas's familiar voice.

"I've come to visit, sissy!" Axel said in a sing-song voice.

"NOOOOOO!!!" The dramatic yell woke up all of Destiny Islands. Kairi relinquished a giggle before running upstairs to get her uncle out of her horrified mother's sight.

**xXx**

Sometime around early afternoon, Kairi made her way out of the house for a stroll. She asked Axel if he wanted to come with her, but he refused and said he was having too much fun with his "sissy" to leave. He did say, however, to find Roxas if possible, because he had been such a "darling."

Kairi thought it over. Did she want to see Roxas? A part of her was screaming, "Yes! Yes! Please! I want to thank him!" but the majority of her was uncomfortable with the idea. After all that ruckus, did she _really_ need to thank him? She still hadn't gotten her point across, after all, no matter how stupid the point was and no matter what lengths she was willing to go for it.

Deep, deep down, where Kairi seldom traveled, she knew she should be grateful for all that he had done. And, even further down, she secretly knew she was. But to admit that to his face? Improbable, if not impossible.

She walked down to the dock. The sun was still high in the sky, sending streaks of light down on the calming waves of the ocean. The water, bluer than the sky, made a cheerful little "sploosh" sound every time it washed up to shore. Kairi sat down on the last wooden plank, allowing her legs to dangle over the side, the tips of her shoes lightly skimming the water. The wind gently fanned her strawberry tresses. Her mind went blank and her eyelids grew heavy. It was so relaxing she could've fallen asleep.

"Kairi?"

The voice broke the rare, peaceful moment. As she looked behind her, Kairi immediately missed her quiet connection with Mother Nature.

"Roxas," she sighed. The blond boy's cerulean eyes were almost glowing in the sunlight, producing an even deeper blue than that of the ocean. His hair almost appeared spun from gold, very different from his usual, almost brown color. Did beautiful days make people appear more beautiful? Or did they make already beautiful people, like Roxas, even more gorgeous and make others seem ugly in contrast?

The silence that prevailed was on the brink of awkward. However, with the sounds of splashing water, cawing seagulls, and the crunch of sand, it was more soothing than teeth-clenching. After a few moments of staying upright, Roxas joined her on the dock, carefully curving his legs underneath the damp wood so that his sneakers wouldn't get wet.

"You're still here," he stated bluntly.

"Yep." Kairi peered at her distorted reflection. "Uncle Axel came. I had no reason to go. I called Riku and said I wouldn't require his services." She conveniently skipped the part he had played in the story.

"Hm," Roxas murmured. "Wonder how that happened."

His voice wasn't sarcastic. Even though Kairi knew he was lying, his voice was so persuasive she almost believed it herself. She shook her head and elbowed him in the side, evoking a burst of laughter from her friend.

"He told you, huh?" Roxas sighed, leaning on Kairi's shoulder.

"Everything," Kairi replied. "You're an idiot. You think you could slip that by me?"

Roxas shrugged.

"It was worth a shot," he remarked, then relinquished another sigh. "God, Kairi, you really know how to put a guy on the spot. I wasted my beauty sleep on you."

He primped his hair teasingly and made a kissy face. Kairi pushed him into the ocean. A few seconds later, Roxas had burst back onto the surface, taking a deep breath in.

"Now _that_ was uncalled for!" he sputtered.

"You're an idiot, Roxas Hernandez!" Kairi yelled. "_You_ were worried about _me_? What a backwards sentence! Do you know how long you've been the stupid one, fracturing your arm, like, a million times on the most idiotic things I've ever heard of? You big, fat-headed jerk!"

Kairi knew she wasn't being completely serious—sometimes she felt like she was making a joke and her words sounded utterly ridiculous—but she knew she and Roxas had a mutual feeling that her words held some truth in them. Roxas allowed himself to sink into the water before popping back up and grinning.

"Nice to have you back, Kai," he remarked.

"You too, Roxas," she replied.

**xXx**

_Dear Diary,_

_I'm not quite sure what happened, but somehow, I feel a sense of wholeness again, no thanks to Riku or his car or anything like that. I know I lost myself the past couple of days. Now that I look back, I'm sort of wondering, what was I __**thinking**__? I mean, I must be a real moron._

_Roxas, I'm hoping, will take it easier on my now, considering he understands my position. Of course, this __**is**__ Roxas we're talking about, so it may take a little longer for him to fully comprehend the life lesson._

_Yuffie and Sora ran into me and Roxas on our way back from the dock. Yuffie almost tackled me to the ground and Sora watched us, laughing, without helping me with the sudden hundred and twenty pounds that I had gained. He said something along the lines of "the next time you need a ride, you'd better choose me, no matter what the position is." I think he was talking about breaking the law by driving on the highway, so I'd rather not talk about it. _

_I think Riku may be seriously mad at me now. He sounded none too happy on the phone. I'm kind of glad I didn't get to see his face. Who knows what this will do to my social status at school? _

…_Not that I have much of a social status to begin with. _

_Uncle Axel is very happy that I talked to Roxas, so now he's baking cookies and constantly telling me what a good niece I am. He's also giving me dating advice though, and how "to get my feelings out." Whoa! Awkward. Of course I told him that I had no interest in Roxas whatsoever, where he promptly pouted and said that we would make such a nice couple. I told him that he thought we made a nice couple when we were six, so he didn't have much to go off of. He scowled and said he was replacing the sugar in the cookies with salt. I still haven't eaten any of the baked "goods" since he brought them up. _

_My mom isn't very happy that Uncle Axel's here, but I told her he wouldn't be here for very long—only a week. She said she'd have to buy twice the amount of Aspirin that she usually used, but I think it will be okay. _

_Nightey-night, _

_Kairi_

**Well, well. It appears we have reached an end of another chapter. Could life really be that great from now on for Roxas and Kairi? No, of course not…at least, not while **_**I'm**_** running this thing. Especially with my rusty, unused Riku sitting in the corner, and my barely touched Axel teetering on the top of the shelf. Don't you just love my metaphors? **

**Oh, also, my friends and I are creating a movie on **_**Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs**_**. I'm the director/scriptwriter/Grumpy, so I'm pretty excited, my friends. I love Grumpy and his hatred (and secret love) for women. **

**Read and review!**

**Peace. (I hope you realize I never say "Peace" out loud.) **


	9. Sunrise Watching

**Disclaimer: I do not own Kingdom Hearts (II), Roxas, Kairi, Yuffie, etc.**

**Author's Note: So I appear to be writing in hyper-drive because school is starting tomorrow and this may be the last update you get in quite a while. Anyway, I'm really dreading school and I haven't even started any homework I was assigned over break. Man, am I in trouble if I don't get my butt in gear. **

**Warning: Uh…hormonal teenagers. As usual. **

**Quick Author Babble: I'm getting my hands on Kingdom Hearts Re: Chain of Memories if it is the LAST thing I do! **

Chapter 9: Sunrise Watching

Roxas stood in front of his mirror, fumbling with his new tie. The thing was eating him alive. The school just _had_ to add the tie in. The principal must have just turned around and thought, "Hey, let's embarrass the students by making them wear something resembling a clown suit!" Darn that Manse…Xemnas.

While he was thinking about the wretched tie, Roxas examined the rest of his uniform. He swore what the principal called a "collared shirt" was a blouse, and the last time he checked, only girls were supposed to wear blouses. And the plaid pants! He couldn't even_ begin_ to explain the horror of wearing them.

"_Aah!!!" _Roxas yelled in exasperation, finally throwing the tie on the ground. As if that wasn't enough, he stomped on it again and again and again. "Take that! And that! And that!"

His bedroom door opened and his mom peeked in. Immediately she gave him the stink eye.

"Roxas," the woman asked in annoyance, obviously having second thoughts about ever wanting a child, "what are you doing?"

"Wishing ties could feel pain," Roxas replied, giving it another good stomp into the carpet.

"Well, will you be quieter about it?" Mrs. Hernandez snapped, not amused by his witty remark. "I am on a business call."

"Oh, yes, I'll just _quietly_ try to make my school uniform more masculine, Mother dear, as you continue on your hundredth business call this morning." Roxas was actually angry now, and his voice was getting awfully loud.

"Don't speak to me that way, Roxas," his mother ordered, ending his tirade with one, simple sentence. "And I don't see what you're complaining about. Your uniform is lovely."

"Oh, yeah," Roxas remarked sarcastically, pulling at his so-called collared shirt. "You've finally got the daughter you always wanted, Mom. Congratulations."

Mrs. Hernandez glared at him over her shoulder as she left the room.

"I hope you have a better attitude when your father comes back this evening!" she called halfway down the hall. Roxas rolled his eyes and didn't bother replying to that one. Him being happier around his dad went without saying.

She and Roxas had never had a good relationship. Maybe when he was little—as in so little he couldn't remember—but they had never been on talking terms with each other. And when they _did_ talk, nothing came out exactly friendly. Perhaps she was the reason Roxas became so rebellious. Whatever reason, she didn't like her son being so outgoing. First it started with scolding, then simply shrieking, and finally just complete ignoring. His mother was so moody, he could barely keep up. The yelling, the crying, the drinking...a teenage boy just couldn't take it. Kairi knew about their uncomfortable relationship, and how his mother was a sensitive subject for Roxas. This resulted in complete avoidance of all things relating to her. One day, maybe, the blond might just build up the confidence to deal with Mrs. Hernandez, but for now, simple ignorance might be the best way to go.

He sighed and picked the bedraggled tie from the floor. At the moment, this was more of a problem than that.

**xXx**

As Roxas walked into Destiny High, he noticed Kairi almost immediately. It wasn't too hard. Kairi was the only girl who hadn't done any modifications on her uniform. Her skirt was ankle length and her blouse—because they apparently only call it a blouse when a girl's wearing it—was tucked in, let alone that its sleeves were still unhealthily long. Roxas crept up behind her and covered her eyes with his hands.

"Guess who?" he asked, smiling childishly.

"A blond idiot who has nothing better to do with his time?" guessed Kairi sarcastically.

"Meanie." Roxas uncovered her eyes and she turned around. Kairi examined him closely.

"I see your tie was a failed attempt this morning," she remarked, looking at the wrinkled fabric.

"What are you talking about?" Roxas lied, putting his hands into his plaid pockets. "It was a total success."

"It has a shoeprint on it."

"Moving on," Roxas said quickly, turning the attention onto her. "What about you? Didn't you change _anything_ on your uniform?"

Kairi looked down at her long skirt before shaking her head.

"No," she answered, looking at him. "I just wanted to blend in. You know, plain and simple."

"Well, I just want to be the first to notify you that you stick out like a sore thumb," Roxas stated bluntly. "Look at all the other girls. They've changed theirs."

"Those are the shallow girls that like hanging around the likes of _you_." Roxas added in a little "ouch" before she continued. "Yuffie wouldn't have changed hers. You'll see."

"Speaking of Yuffie, isn't that her and Sora walking in right now?" Roxas directed the redhead to the school entrance. Kairi had been dead wrong.

The raven-haired girl walked in wearing—to everyone's disbelief—_shorts_. Sure, they had the same blue plaid pattern that everyone else's had, but since when were shorts regulated? Let alone that Yuffie had transformed her tie into a bow and her supposed dress shoes were now ankle-high boots. Her blouse had been cut down to more what was like a t-shirt, except for the fact that it had a collar and buttons going down the middle. Her knee-high socks were not navy, but instead striped with white and blue. The shock nearly caused Kairi to fall over.

"Oh!" Yuffie suddenly took notice of Roxas and Kairi. "Hey, guys!"

"Y-Y-Y…Yuffie," Kairi spluttered, her tongue useless as she looked Yuffie over once more. "Y-Your…uniform…"

"Yeah, I know, cool, isn't it?" Yuffie giggled, doing an impressive little spin to show off. "I was sitting at home, looking at my uniform and thinking 'wow, this stinks' when suddenly I realized that even though we're inclined to wear all this…ugh…_plaid_, we should still have rights to freedom of expression. So, with my fantastic sewing skills, I made this."

"Cool," Roxas agreed, nodding approvingly.

"But not clever," Sora retorted. "You must be breaking tons of rules. You're going to get in serious trouble if you go around wearing _that_."

"Not so, my horribly mistaken friend," Yuffie remarked, beginning to demonstrate her fabulous outfit. "You see, they never specified _how_ they wanted the tie to be knotted. Certainly mine is tied, as you can plainly see. Is that not so?"

"Wise woman, you speak the truth," Roxas remarked, smiling with amusement. Yuffie never ceased to amaze him.

"As for my shoes, they said that they needed to be black dress shoes. These are black and they were in the 'dress shoes' section of the store. Therefore, these _are_ black dress shoes."

Kairi continued to gape at her.

"For my shirt, they told us we needed to wear white blouses. They didn't say how long the sleeves had to be. Mine certainly is a blouse, though slightly modified. They also told us to wear navy or white stockings, though navy was preferable. I liked white better, but they preferred navy, so, to cure me of this problem, I compromised and wore both."

Yuffie crossed her arms triumphantly.

"How about the shorts, huh?" Sora wasn't prepared to give up yet. "They clearly said to not wear shorts, female or male."

"Okay, now I'll admit I'm breaking a rule," Yuffie sighed, nodding. "But I've found a way to work around that. If I encounter anybody that might be a problem, I put my legs together, like this." She demonstrated. The fabric seemed to meld into each other. "Now it looks like I'm wearing a skirt, right?"

"Amazing," Roxas remarked. "All this time I knew you, I never realized you were a genius."

"Don't feel bad. My talents are yet to be discovered."

Roxas laughed. Yuffie grabbed Sora's wrist.

"Come on, Sora! Let's go finish that science project before we get murdered by Mr. Sephiroth!" she chirped.

"You sound so cheerful when you say that," Sora remarked, looking tired. "Mr. Sephiroth scares the crap out of me."

"More the reason to go then!"

And just as suddenly as they had come, they disappeared. Roxas turned to his still paralyzed best friend and noticed something.

"Your hair's up," he remarked.

It took Kairi a moment to unfreeze.

"Yeah," she said. "It says in the school rules that all girls with hair that goes beyond their shoulders have to tie it up."

"Oh, I see. Well then, let me do you a favor." He quickly snapped it out of her hair and threw it into the nearest trashcan.

"Roxas…! You…!" Kairi spluttered in disbelief.

Roxas ran his fingers through her hair so it was back to its normal style. He smiled triumphantly and took a step back.

"Much better, isn't it, Kai?" Roxas looked at the redhead. Her face had gone pink. "Kairi? You okay?"

Kairi snapped out of her daze and nodded shakily.

"Y-Yeah, thanks…" she said quietly, taking a few steps backward. "Um…uh…bye."

With that, she spun around and fast-walked down the hall. Roxas stared after her in disbelief. That was it? No scolding? No kicking? No insults? What had just happened?

**xXx**

Roxas came out into the hall for his lunch period. Monday morning classes were the worst. He was so tired, and when he fell asleep in class all he got was a scolding or a detention. School was such a pain sometimes.

Roxas entered the cafeteria and took notice of Sora sitting at a table by himself. He approached his spiky-haired friend.

"Hey, So—" Roxas was halfway through making some witty remark when Naminé stepped in front of him, possibly wearing the shortest kilt known to mankind.

"Hey, Roxas," she said in a lustful tone, giving a little tug on his tie. "Looking hot…as usual."

Roxas laughed nervously.

"Ah…thanks," he responded. "You're looking good too."

She giggled and winked before walking away. Roxas let out the breath he had been suppressing and collapsed on the table's bench.

"Wow," Sora said in disbelief.

"She is really scary," Roxas sighed, pulling at his tie so he could let out a couple of deep breaths.

"Oh, could she be perhaps the only being on the planet that can fluster the infinite Roxas Hernandez?" Sora remarked, taking a sip from his soda.

"Ha, ha, very funny," Roxas snapped, dealing Sora a kick to the leg. "Idiot."

Sora looked at the blonde from across the room and whistled.

"She's a fine piece of work though," Sora admitted. "I wish I had a life like yours, Roxas."

"I'm not interested in Naminé, okay?" Roxas spat.

"Your face is telling me something different."

"Drop it, you tub of lard."

Sora put his hands up in the air to show surrender, even though he was smiling mockingly while doing so. Roxas glared at him before looking around the noisy cafeteria.

"Where are Kairi and Yuffie?" he asked.

"They were here a few minutes ago," Sora answered, frowning. "Then Yuffie dragged Kairi out saying that she 'needed to make improvements.'"

"What does that mean?"

"No idea."

"Scary." Roxas didn't want to know what went on in Yuffie's mind, and he was pretty sure Kairi didn't either. Poor thing.

"Oh, wait, there's Yuffie," Sora pointed out, sitting up a little straighter.

The raven-haired girl looked positively ecstatic. She skipped up to the table. That's when Roxas realized that Yuffie had more legs than usual. A second pair was trailing behind her.

"…Kairi?" Roxas muttered in confusion, trying to look behind the taller girl. He got a glimpse of her face, but when Kairi noticed she quickly hid on Yuffie's other side.

Yuffie stomped her foot and started to make trumpets sounds before swinging out her arms like those women on game shows did when presenting the grand prize.

"Presenting…Kairi!" Yuffie announced excitedly, jumping to the side.

"No! Wait! Yuffie!" the red-haired girl cried to no avail. She looked at Roxas and Sora in absolute terror before jumping back towards Yuffie, but instead simply got wrestled down by her friend instead of rescued.

Roxas's eyes widened. Kairi's kilt was…short. Above the knees short. In fact, much above the knees short. Her sleeves had been trimmed to a short-sleeved style much like Yuffie's, and her blouse was no longer tucked in. Even as Roxas tried to concentrate on the whole of the new outfit, his eyes kept drifting down to the skirt. Finally he put his face in his hands.

"Oh, God," he muttered, face turning bright red. Sora took one, you're-such-a-loser look at him before applauding.

"Yes, yes, I know, she's fantastic, folks," Yuffie carried on, bowing. "Luckily I brought my sewing basket with me to school today."

"What part of it is lucky?!" Kairi exclaimed, seemingly through enough embarrassment for one day as she quickly took a seat beside Roxas.

"You're just shy," Yuffie sighed. "They all are. But don't worry, you'll get over it. You look great, Kairi. Doesn't she, Roxas? Hey, Roxas?"

Roxas normally provided backup for Yuffie, but for some reason he couldn't talk, especially about Kairi's new outfit. Unfortunately, without his clarification, Kairi turned even redder and probably, Roxas guessed, felt worse.

"Change it back!" she shouted at Yuffie, trying to pull her kilt down further.

"Sorry, Kai," Yuffie apologized, and this time she actually _did_ sound sorry. "What's done is done."

"Then I…" Kairi's face turned splotchy as she held in tears, "I have to go the washroom!"

She raced out of the cafeteria before anyone else could see her. Yuffie and Sora immediately turned on Roxas. Yuffie dealt him an enormously painful kick to the shin.

"You jerk!" she shouted. "All you had to say was, 'yeah, it looks great'! How hard is that?! Now she's going to spend the rest of the day feeling horrible!"

"What _was_ that, Roxas?" Sora agreed, staring holes through the blond boy. "You know Kairi. She takes what you say and do very seriously. That must've been so embarrassing for her. Think before you act."

Roxas looked down at the table, boring holes through the cheap plastic.

"Why did you have to cut it so short?" he snapped, finally glancing in Yuffie's direction. Yuffie and Sora looked stunned.

"What?" Yuffie questioned, eyes wide. "No. No, no, no, no! Don't tell me you're…"

"Embarrassed," Sora concluded, looking just as shocked.

Roxas looked back down at the table and responded with silence. Yuffie whacked him over the head.

"YOU MORON!!!"

**xXx**

It was five thirty in the morning, and Roxas was climbing up the conveniently placed tree in the Thomases' backyard. As he reached the limb of choice, he quietly slithered along it and then climbed onto the windowsill. Kairi's curtains were closed. Roxas would soon change that.

He tapped the window. No reply. He tapped the window harder. Still no movement. Finally he banged it and hissed, "Kairi!" The curtains stirred. A pair of hands finally pulled them apart to reveal Kairi still in her pajamas. She looked tired and irritated and her eyes looked a bit puffy. Roxas mouthed, "open the window." Kairi looked at him suspiciously. After all, the last time she had opened her window to him he had sexually harassed her. Roxas threw her a look and when she still didn't look convinced he made the puppy face. Kairi sighed and surrendered, opening the window.

"What do you want, Roxas?" she sighed, aggravated.

Roxas grinned.

"Come outside and you'll see," he replied.

"I don't trust you," she stated bluntly.

"You do to! Come on! I promise I won't push you off while you're climbing."

Kairi's eyes widened. Apparently that thought hadn't come to mind.

"I'm kidding," he explained. "_Kidding_, Kairi."

She rolled her eyes before she reluctantly crawled out. Roxas smiled triumphantly before climbing to a strong, thick limb that gave a good look over the ocean. The sky was a light purple, a sign that the sun was rising.

"Okay, so," Kairi said, taking her place beside him, "why'd you bring me here?"

"Yuffie dared me to watch the sunrise," Roxas answered, "and you said you would be in this with me. So of course we have to watch the sunrise together. And to think I had the consideration to come get you."

"In this with you…" Kairi repeated. "You mean I have to go through all this crap too?"

"Watching the sunrise is not crap," Roxas remarked defensively. "It's _nothing_ compared to what I've had to do before."

"You're lucky you woke up," Kairi giggled.

Silence pursued. A little piece of gold was now breaking apart the purple and bringing in a deep scarlet. Kairi relinquished a dreamy sigh.

"It's so pretty," she stated, smiling.

"Speaking of pretty," Roxas interjected, "about today…at lunch…"

As soon as the words came out of his mouth, the sky wasn't the only thing turning red. Kairi quickly turned to face the trunk of the tree.

"Yeah, don't worry about it," she said quickly, laughing nervously. "I mean, Yuffie just got carried away. I'm going to buy a new uniform…"

Roxas squeezed his eyes shut and suppressed a groan. This was not going to be easy.

"You…you looked…nice," he finally managed to squeeze out. Kairi's head whipped around.

"What did you say?" she asked.

"You looked…really great," Roxas remarked. "Please don't feel bad. I just didn't know what to say at the time."

Absolute silence. Roxas could hear his own heart beating.

"…Thanks." Kairi looked a little better.

"No problem." Roxas felt a little better too.

He sighed, closed his eyes, and spread himself on the tree branch, resting his head on Kairi's lap. The girl immediately froze.

"What?" Roxas opened one eye to peer at her.

"Well…you're on my lap," the girl replied, her and the sky competing for who could turn redder.

"So? We used to do this all the time," Roxas remarked.

"Yes, but…things are different now, Roxas." Kairi looked like she was saying something she had suppressed for a long time.

"How are things different?" he questioned curiously.

"Well, we're sixteen. It was normal when we were six, but now that we're older, it's just…"

"Weird?"

"Well…" She seemed to think about it. "Yeah."

"It's because of hormones and all that," Roxas blurted out. "I mean, what's with all this crap? Everything's changed! You wear a shorter skirt and I can't even talk! I touch you just a little bit and you have a seizure! I…this is…aah!"

He put a hand over his eyes and released a sigh.

"I just miss what we used to have, I guess," he said quietly.

"I know what you mean," Kairi remarked, smiling sympathetically.

And though he was trying to fight the feeling, he liked it when Kairi ran a hand through his hair.

**Yeah, so, anyway. Blegh. This was boring! I was planning to put Riku in here but I had absolutely ZERO space to fit him! I mean, Riku needs quite a lot of space. He's an important character, and not only is he very, very tall and very, very muscular, but he also has hordes of screaming fan girls. Ah! The horror!**

**So anyway, I wrote this in two days. Told you. Super speed. I just wrote whatever came to mind, so it's probably going to sound like a mixture of absolute garbage to you guys, but to me, somehow, it makes sense.**

**And besides, this is my least popular story anyway. **

**Read and REVIEW, REVIEW, REVIEW!**

**Happy New Year, super special people who actually read this!**


	10. Sickly Sunsets

**Disclaimer: I do not own Kingdom Hearts (II), Roxas, Kairi, Axel, etc. (I also do not own Vincent, by the way.) **

**Author's Note: Oh my gosh! I updated, I updated! (Dances excitedly) I made a big mistake in the last chapter by putting "the infinite Roxas" instead of "the infamous Roxas". I'm telling you this because I'm too lazy to go back and change it. I hope you like this chapter! It's pointless, but I'm hoping it'll come into use someday!**

**Warning: Use of a NON-KINGDOM HEARTS CHARACTER!! Oh my God!!!**

**Quick Author Babble: I stink at Final Fantasy games. (Mutters crossly)**

Chapter 10: Sickly Sunsets

Kairi woke up in the morning feeling tired. She was so unbelievably sleepy that she didn't even have the energy to turn off her alarm clock. She just laid there, exhausted, willing her body to move, which it didn't obviously, or it would've been too easy. She looked at the ceiling and finally allowed herself to close her eyes.

"Mom…" she groaned, only opening her mouth as wide as necessary. "_Mom_…"

In mere seconds, Miss Thomas was at her bedroom door. She was in a stylish black work outfit, complete with shiny high heels and a purse. Her hair came down in glossy, wavy crimson locks. She looked very pretty. Of course, Miss Thomas was a very pretty woman. Right at the moment, though, her forehead was creased with worry.

"Kairi?" she said questioningly, looking at her half-dead daughter. "What's the matter?"

Kairi raised a weak arm towards her mother.

"Help," she pleaded in a wobbly voice.

Miss Thomas's eyes widened. She fast-walked over to her daughter's bedside and felt her forehead with the back of her hand. She quickly snatched it away, shaking it quickly and blowing on it.

"Kairi, you have a fever!" the woman gasped, looking horrified.

"Thank you, Captain Obvious," Kairi remarked sarcastically. Miss Thomas gave her a motherly glare. Kairi returned it by pouting. "I'm fine, Mom. I have this really big test today so I've got to go to school."

"That doesn't make you healthy," Miss Thomas stated bluntly. "I have a business meeting, so I'll ask Axel to stay home with you…"

"No, really, Mom," Kairi said quickly, realizing where this was going, "I _have_ to go to school today. I just wanted you to fully wake me up, is all."

Miss Thomas crossed her arms and frowned at the younger redhead. Finally she sighed and waved her arms in the air, rolling her eyes.

"Fine, do what you want," she remarked, "just don't blame me when you're blowing chunks all over Destiny High."

"Thanks, Mom," Kairi commented dryly. "That really made me feel better."

**xXx**

Kairi stumbled down the stairs after getting changed and brushing her hair. Sunlight shone through the clear windows in the kitchen, highlighting how pale she was. She had a pulsing headache and she felt incredibly nauseous. Literally collapsing on a stool, she watched her house spin dizzily around her.

Her mom had already left for her business meeting, but Axel was still lingering, sipping his coffee as he examined the media section of the paper. At the sound of Kairi's stool scraping the floor, he turned, distracted. He smiled brightly at her.

"Ah, if it isn't my favorite niece!" the male redhead chirped, electric green eyes glinting with more mischief than cheeriness.

"I'm your _only_ niece, Uncle Axel," Kairi grumbled in response, looking dazedly at him. Kairi had about three million cousins, all of which were male. Seriously.

"Hmm…that's true…" Axel took a closer glimpse of Kairi's face, nodding wisely while doing so. "Jeez, you're not looking good, Ri-Ri. Sissy was right."

Kairi groaned as she heard her new nickname. Axel had picked up "Ri-Ri" only recently because it was "_so cute_". Kairi was not one to object to Axel's playfulness, but that was just too much to take, especially with her throbbing headache. Axel patted her head with some remorse.

"Maybe you should stay home today, kid," he remarked, wisely choosing a more bearable nickname. "You honestly look really sick. The other kids will make fun of you."

Kairi looked up at him doubtfully. He pointed at her and pretended to look knowledgeable.

"Hey, it's happened." Kairi laughed, but afterwards shook her head with a "no". She _had_ to go. Kairi Thomas did not miss tests, especially big ones. Axel sighed. "Fine. Is there anything I can get you before you go and kill yourself?"

"No, I'm not hungry," Kairi responded, which was a lie. The truth was she was feeling too nauseous to eat. But she couldn't tell Axel that, or he might start using force. "I've got to go. Bye, Uncle Axel!"

She stood up and picked up her book bag, racing towards the front door where she promptly proceeded to put on her shoes.

"Bye, Ri-Ri!" Axel called from the kitchen. Kairi grimaced before leaving the house.

**xXx**

As Kairi entered Destiny High, the bright lights and loud students threw her off balance. Her mind and body just simply weren't ready to register all the things that were going on. Her head pounded, her body ached, her stomach churned. Her eyes were droopy and had dark circles around them. Her hair, which just naturally became messy when she fell ill, looked more like a bird's nest than anything. People managed to give her side glances of pity as she walked by. But Kairi did not want to be pitied. She wanted to study for that big history test.

She walked up to her locked and subconsciously dialed in her combination. She examined the metal container closely, muttering crossly as she searched for her history notes.

"KAIRI!!!" The loud obnoxiousness of the voice nearly knocked the redhead over. She grabbed onto the locker door for balance before turning around and looking at the raven-haired girl standing behind her.

"Hi, Yuffie," she croaked, smiling weakly, hoping for all the world that her friend didn't notice her weariness.

"Kai-Kai, you don't look so good," Yuffie commented bluntly, shattering all her hopes. "Shouldn't you be at home resting or something?"

"I'm not fatally ill or anything, Yuffie," Kairi remarked dryly, finally locating her history notes before slamming the locker door shut. "I'm just…tired."

Yuffie faced her friend sternly, placing her hands on her shoulders and shaking her, provoking more painful pounding in Kairi's head.

"Kairi, I know you," she said, pointing a finger firmly at her. "And I know that you wouldn't miss a test even if Destiny High was burning up in flames. But I swear, if you even show me one time that you need to be at home, I will not let you go any further. Do you understand?"

Kairi laughed quietly.

"Yes, I understand," she replied, "and you don't have to worry about it."

**xXx**

Kairi was having one of those days where she couldn't concentrate on _anything_. There was always something blocking her train of thought, whether it is the incessant bantering of other students or the frequent ticking of the clock. Sometimes she felt like just jumping out the window and collapsing on the lawn and forgetting about the history test, but then her logical mind kicked in, assuring her that would be a bad idea, let alone that jumping out the window was potentially dangerous, but that forgetting about the history test would harm her academic career.

Kairi was not paying attention during science class, and she had already built quite the reputation of being the only one who listened eagerly throughout _all_ periods. Her head was still pounding and her stomach would not let her rest in peace. She couldn't work because it was just too strenuous. As the teacher, Professor Ansem DiZ, jabbered on about something or other, Kairi examined her black dress shoes. They were very Alice in Wonderland, she now realized. Perhaps she should've picked a different style…

Before Kairi could decide on exactly what style she wanted, she felt a pencil lead jab her in the neck. She snapped up instantly and turned around to face the nuisance. It was Roxas, of course. He always sat behind her in science, but she never noticed much because she was too busy taking notes. Kairi and Roxas didn't converse at all during science, or any classes they had together, for that matter. That's why the student body didn't know anything about their close friendship. So Kairi was surprised when she realized the blond was trying to communicate with her.

"Are you okay?" he mouthed silently, blue eyes gleaming with what seemed like worry. Of course, you could never tell with Roxas. They could be gleaming with mischief or something else suspicious.

Kairi smiled and gave a thumb's up in response. The boy did not seem convinced. In fact, he still looked rather troubled. He allowed himself to be distracted, at least for the moment, by some people walking outside the window. Roxas didn't even try to listen to Professor DiZ. "Like there's a point," he always said.

Kairi folded her hands neatly on her desk and glared at them. Roxas could tell she wasn't feeling well just by looking at the back of her head. He must've been watching awfully closely to notice all her odd mannerisms. The thought gave her shivers down her spine. She couldn't tell if that was a good or a bad thing.

**xXx**

As Kairi was walking out of the classroom, she was ambushed…by a flying, blond boy. Roxas had decided to play leapfrog with his unsuspecting classmates. Things like this made Kairi question why she ever allowed herself to be his best friend.

Roxas placed the back of his hand on Kairi's forehead before even exchanging words with her. Yet another reason to wonder about their relationship.

"A fever, huh?" he said, clacking his tongue disapprovingly before allowing his arm to drop. "Kairi, we have already discussed lying to each other, and your health is very important…"

"I'm not going home," Kairi remarked firmly. Roxas fell silent for a few moments then flicked her forehead.

"And all this time I thought you were smart," he sighed. "Turns out you're just as stupid as I am. So, what's your reason for staying?"

Kairi raised an eyebrow before responding.

"There's a really important history test today. I can't afford to miss it." The redhead frowned before continuing down the hallway.

"Ah, I was wrong," Roxas stated, shaking his head as he trailed behind her. "You're even stupider than I am."

Kairi swung around and glared.

"I am not!" she shouted. "I care about my grades! Is that so bad?!"

Roxas rolled his eyes before putting his hands behind his head and looking up at the ceiling. Kairi felt her face grow hot. This…this…imbecile! Trying to make her seem idiotic! She'd show _him_ who the dumber one here was!

"Now if you'll excuse me," she continued, blowing a strand of red hair from her face, "I've got a test to study for."

Then she strode away, her steps full of defiance.

**xXx**

Kairi's head hit her history book as she sat in the library during lunchtime. She was there because she had to study quite urgently, and if she tried to eat she was afraid she might throw up. But try as she might, she could not get her throbbing brain to stop bothering her. Well, "bothering" was a mild way to put it. More like threatening to burst out of her skull. She breathed out carefully, trying to cleanse her lungs, calm her body down a little. Then she tried to remember some important history dates.

Marco Polo returned from China in…um…in…? Next one, maybe.

King John of England signed the Magna Carta in…one thousand…and…something?

William of Normandy crossed the English Channel and defeated British King Harold II in…one thousand…sixty-one? Sixty-two? Ugh…

"Agh!" exclaimed Kairi in defeat, slamming her book shut. Her eyes began welling up. What was she doing here? What was the point of taking this test if she was just going to fail?

She sat up once again, this time ignoring the pain and nausea. No. She would not—_could not_—fail. She would ace this test even if it killed her!

…Which it just might.

**xXx**

The bell rang to signal it was fourth period. To Kairi, it meant doom. History. And she wasn't prepared. She didn't _feel _prepared, anyway. She exited the library shakily, quizzing herself silently as she continued down the hallway.

Marco Polo returned to China in…? 1295.

Kairi's breathing became shallow. She felt exhausted.

King John of England signed the Magna Carta on…? Easy. June 15th, 1215.

Kairi paused to lean against a locker. Was it just her or was it sweltering in here?

William of Normandy crossed the English Channel and defeated British King Harold II in…? She knew this. 1066.

Kairi resumed walking. Her legs were weak and trembling.

Charlemagne unified most of Europe under his rule…

Kairi could not think of the last part of the question. The hallway was spinning around her and she could no longer concentrate. Going around and around, as if she were on a spinning top. Her next step was unstable. She lost her balance and she had too little energy to catch herself. She fell. Collapsed, more like. Right into the arms of a waiting stranger.

"Hey, are you okay?" The voice sounded deeply concerned. Kairi did not have the strength to identify this person, let alone reply. Her body fell limp. She could swear she was on the verge of death. The person sighed. "Kairi, you're so stupid," they muttered, and she felt herself being lifted up by an invisible force and carried away—far way—maybe to heaven.

At this pleasant thought, Kairi could feel her world slipping away…into nothing at all.

**xXx**

Light broke through the blackness behind Kairi's eyelids, forcing them open. An eruption of colorful dots appeared before her. After blinking them away, she realized she was lying in a cot in the nurse's office. Sunshine was streaming in through the window, shining over the many bandages and medicine bottles scattered about the room. She rubbed her eyes sleepily. How did she get here? Her mind was so blank.

The male nurse, Mr. Lexaeus, entered the room. Mr. Lexaeus was very frightening. He was large, brawny, and not that pretty, if you know what I mean. His hair stuck up in dusty orange tendrils and his face was always set in a permanent frown. He always looked angry and it was not a pleasant thought to make Mr. Lexaeus angry.

"You're awake," Mr. Lexaeus grunted. Kairi nodded. As she did so, a flash of pain went through her head. Mr. Lexaeus noticed her wince. "Lay back down. We don't want you passing out again."

Kairi was confused, but she did as she was told. As soon as her head hit the pillow, she turned to Mr. Lexaeus.

"I passed out?" she asked for clarification.

"Yes," Mr. Lexaeus replied with a curt nod, picking up a clipboard and flipping through some of the pages.. "You had a high fever and used too much energy. It's common."

"Oh." Kairi looked away, sort of embarrassed. She sounded like an idiot when he put it that way. "How'd I get here then?"

"Some boy carried you here," the nurse answered with a shrug to show he really didn't care.

"A boy?" Kairi was now curious. "Who?"

Mr. Lexaeus glared at her.

"You really expect me to know?" he snapped.

"Well, I guess not…" she murmured. "What'd he look like?"

"Listen, Miss Thomas," grumbled the muscular man, squaring his shoulders to make him look extra threatening, "I do not care about your personal life or what boys bother to carry you up and down the hallways, okay? All that matters right at this moment is your health. Everything else is nothing to me. Now lay down before you go unconscious again."

Kairi obeyed him. Nothing's more convincing than a scary man threatening you with a fever.

**xXx**

Kairi didn't realize she had missed her history test until the end-of-school bell rang. At that precise moment, she sat up and panicked, looking about the room as if her history teacher would suddenly walk in and point accusingly at her, saying, "I am very disappointed in you." A thought like that was more than enough to make the redhead leap off the cot. Then Kairi Thomas did the unbelievable.

She snuck out.

She wasn't exactly sure how she had done it, really. One moment she was creeping over to the door, and the next she was on the third floor, racing down the hallway, dodging students as she flew past. She nearly ran right into the hard, wooden door as she entered her history classroom.

The history teacher was just standing up, sorting papers on his desk. At the sound of the slamming open of the door, he looked up. His red eyes pierced her. Kairi gulped. Her history teacher wasn't the nicest of all teachers, and certainly not the most social. Despite this, he was very popular among her female classmates, because he happened to be very young and good-looking.

"Kairi," he grunted in greeting, looking her over. "I thought you were absent today."

"I'm _so_ sorry, Mr. Valentine!" cried the redhead, already on the verge of tears. "I had a fever today but I didn't want to stay home because then I'd miss my history test, but after lunch I passed out and I was taken to the nurse's office, so I missed the test anyway which is kind of ironic considering…" She was silenced by Mr. Valentine's sharp glare. She breathed out. "The point is, is there any chance at all that I could retake the test?"

"Hmm…" Mr. Valentine pushed back a lock of unruly, black hair. "Well, I suppose you couldn't control your health." He considered, tapping his chin with a pale finger. "I'll take it up with the principal. The odds are in your favor."

"Thank you, Mr. Valentine! I promise I'll never do this again!" Kairi exclaimed, so grateful she felt like she could burst into tears.

"Goodbye, Kairi." Mr. Valentine turned his head back to his papers, emotionless. It was clear the conversation was over. Kairi skipped out, happy as a clam.

**xXx**

Kairi was walking home drowsily when she felt a buzzing in her pocket. She removed her shiny, pink cell phone and flipped it open to find a message saying, "One message received." She opened it to find a text from Roxas reading, "Meet me at Paopu Island."

Kairi rolled her eyes. What was that boy planning? She was sick, or did he not remember? Sometimes he was so forgetful. She stopped, tapping her foot while deciding. She sighed and turned around, walking in the opposite direction of her house.

**xXx**

Paopu Island was a small clump of land that was separated from Destiny Islands. It was tiny, but nonetheless legendary for the fruit that it produces—the paopu fruit. Paopu fruit are star-shaped, yellow, and sweet. But they're not known just for that. There's also a story that says if two people share it, their destinies are intertwined for eternity.

Kairi was going to that very island right that minute, and it was getting late. The sky was turning yellow, and she was coming across fewer people. By the time she reached the island, she could only see one person. He was sitting by himself on the bending trunk of the paopu tree. Kairi crossed the bridge separating them before tapping Roxas on the shoulder.

"You asked for me?" she said, sounding a little irritated.

"Oh, hi, Kairi," Roxas remarked, smiling easily as if he hadn't noticed her annoyance. "How're you doing?"

"I'm sick," she snapped in response, "and you knew that. So why'd you make me come here?"

Roxas patted the space beside him on the tree. Kairi reluctantly obliged. He grinned.

"Yuffie dared me to watch the sunset today," he said, "and…"

"I know, I know," Kairi sighed, rolling her eyes. "I said we were in this together."

Roxas patted her on the head like she was a child.

"Now you're getting it," he chuckled.

The sky and the ocean seemed to merge together in a rainbow-like swirl. The colors shone upon Roxas's face, making him seem like some sort of angel. Kairi breathed out in astonishment. But she didn't say anything. Nothing was more delicate than this moment.

Then a thought occurred to her. She stared at Roxas and felt her mouth moving automatically.

"Hey, Roxas…" Kairi began, trying to catch his attention. The blond looked at her questioningly. Kairi took a moment to consider before shaking her head. "Never mind."

Asking him if he had carried her to the nurse's office just seemed too out of place.

**So, anyway, since I haven't written in awhile, I feel the need to share my feelings with you guys. Mm…let me think…Okay, here's a good start: **

**YOU GUYS ARE SO AMAZING!!! YOU LEFT ME SO MANY REVIEWS LAST CHAPTER!!! I AM SO HAPPY!!! (Cries with overwhelming joy)**

**(Cough) Anyway, thank you. (Cough) I really **_**did**_** think that this was my least popular story, but I am quickly being proven wrong by the sudden rise in reviews and the sudden drop in **_**Breakfast at Tifa's**_**. I can't believe how many people reviewed last time! How did you do it? Seriously? **

**Perhaps you could do it again…? (Nudge, nudge, wink, wink) **

**Well, thank you. Again. And I feel the need to share more with you. So here I go. **

**First of all, I got Kingdom Hearts Re:CoM. I haven't played it yet, because I don't usually play Square Enix games for a year and mostly just look at them. It has a pretty cover. **

**Second, this story has inspired me. It's funny because, even though I invented the concept of this story, I have been inspired myself. I wonder if Shakespeare ever felt this way. Hmm…**

**Anyway, how did this inspire me, you ask? Well, the list of dares thing. I love it. The whole time I was writing, I wondered if I'd have the guts to do some of the dumb things I've made the main characters do in here. So, last week, I created my own list of dares for me and my best friend to do. It's at the top of our agenda now. However, our dares are a lot milder than Roxas's. Also, we don't call it our "list of dares." We call it our "things to do." **

**Well, once again, THANK YOU. Even if you haven't read this whole chunk at the end, I really appreciate your support, and I hope you all read and review!**

**So…read and review!**

**Merci beaucoup!**


	11. Picnic Time

**Disclaimer: I do not own Kingdom Hearts (II), Roxas, Kairi, Yuffie, etc.**

**Author's Note: That's right! After a month and a half, I have finally updated! Hurray! But truly, I am saddened. I'm trying to change my profile, but darn Fan Fiction won't let me! Ugh! So irritating! (Fumes) Well, anyway, I hope you enjoy this chapter. **

**Warning: Slight exaggeration of "popularity."**

**Quick Author Babble: It's midnight and I'm tired. You'd better appreciate this...**

Chapter 11: Picnic Time

Roxas sighed as he walked between Yuffie and Kairi down the sidewalk. They were talking over him as if he was nonexistent. Sora lagged a bit behind everyone, looking down at his shoes as if they were the most interesting things he had ever seen. He wasn't paying attention to their conversation either, but instead frowning in concentration as if he was weighed down by troubles. Of course, Sora usually looked like that.

"And then she said..." Yuffie blabbered on, unaware of Roxas's irritation.

"Seriously? Because, like..." Kairi replied, causing a vein to pulse in the blond's forehead.

"Aagh! Shut up!" Roxas shouted. "You two are so darn feminine! Why can't you gossip somewhere else? You know, somewhere where I'm not?"

Both girls turned to look at him, their eyes wide with innocence. Roxas pounded his forehead with his fist. Ha. Innocent. Right...

"Ooh, Roxy's grumpy," Yuffie commented, making a perfect "o" shape with her mouth. Kairi covered her mouth to giggle. Roxas pouted.

"I am _not_ grumpy," he mumbled, "and if I am, it's all your fault for dragging me to this..."

"Oh, Roxas, don't be so childish," Kairi stated, frowning to show that she disapproved.

"_I'm_ childish?" He stared at the redhead in disbelief. "_You're_ the one forcing me to go a picnic! I mean, what the heck? What kind of a dare is that?"

"Aw, c'mon, picnics are fun!" Yuffie exclaimed excitedly. "Aren't they, Sora?"

"They get the food all dirty," Sora muttered, clearly not in the best mood, "and the idea of sitting on the ground is stupid and unsanitary."

There was a chilling silence after the pessimistic comments, but Roxas could feel laughter bubbling up inside of him. Sora was the only other sane person here other than himself. He let out a snort that sent many glares his way.

"You two are always complaining," Kairi remarked, clearly upset. "You only do the stuff you want to do, and Yuffie and I always accept that and participate. Now that we want to do something, you're suddenly turned off? That's...just...not fair!"

She stormed ahead in a huff. Roxas sighed. Despite the girl's melodramatic attitude, he always ended up feeling guilty whenever something like this happened. He turned to Yuffie and Sora. Yuffie was glaring at him most accusingly, and Sora had appeared to have lost all interest in the matter and was once again looking down at his shoes. Roxas ran a hand through his hair in annoyance. Looked like he would have to be the one to smooth Kairi's feathers...again.

"'Scuse me for one second," he said, flashing a smile to hide his frustration. His walk turned into a jog as he tried to catch up to his best friend, who was still storming away with a deep frown on her face. "Kairi, Kairi, Kairi!"

Kairi let out a "humph" and stuck her nose up into the air, increasing the speed of her stride. Roxas relinquished a breath and sped up until he was standing in front of her.

"Hey, you," he said, grabbing her shoulders so she had no choice but to stop, "you aren't being very nice. I, as your best friend, should be treated with more respect than that."

"You, as a moron, should get out of my way," she snapped, pulling away roughly and storming past him. Roxas groaned. Girls were way too emotional. Roxas pivoted on his heel to look at Kairi's quickly distancing back. He took a deep breath. There was only one way to get that girl to stop moving.

"HEY, KAIRI!!!" he shouted as loud as he could, making sure she couldn't ignore him. "IF YOU DON'T COME BACK HERE, I'M GOING TO TELL YUFFIE AND SORA ABOUT YOUR LITTLE PHASE BACK IN JUNIOR HIGH!!!"

Kairi spun around so fast, the speed of light was almost incomparable. Her eyes were wide, with horror or rage, Roxas couldn't tell which.

"ROXAS!!!" she screeched, clenching her hands into fists and stomping her foot on the ground.

"OH, I'M TAKING A STEP BACKWARDS!!! I'M TAKING A STEP BACKWARDS, KAIRI!!! WHAT'RE YOU GOING TO DO? WHAT'RE YOU GOING TO DO, HUH?"

"ROXAS, I SWEAR TO GOD...!"

"OOPS, I'M RUNNING NOW, KAIRI!!! GUESS YOU'D BETTER CATCH ME!!!" Roxas turned and raced down the sidewalk, back to the location where Yuffie and Sora were still lingering. He could hear Kairi's horrified screams behind him, the sound of her sneakers slapping against the sidewalk as she tried in vain to catch up to him. He was faster than her by a long shot, which was pretty convenient at the moment. He skipped towards the end and flashed a big grin at his two friends.

"Hey, guys, did you know that when Kairi was thirteen she was obsessed with being a...mph!" A hand clapped over his mouth just as he was about to finish the sentence. Kairi stepped out from behind him and sent him a death glare.

"Roxas, you are such a jerk!" she shouted, her hand dropping so that she could punch him in the stomach, yelling curse words with each hit. Roxas blocked most of her punches, laughing hysterically at her futile attempts. Sora rolled his eyes as Yuffie tried to get Roxas to tell her the rest of the secret.

Sure, they were going to some lame picnic. But Roxas would never trade a moment like this for the world.

**xXx**

Once they reached the park, it took quite a long time to get set up. Yuffie kept getting overexcited and messing up the carefully laid-out blanket, Sora forgot the picnic basket every time he set it down to take out his cell phone, and Roxas refused to participate in the actual making of it just in case he was seen. Kairi seemed to be the only useful candidate for setting up, so she did it by herself while the rest tried not to get in the way.

While Roxas was doing his part of absolutely nothing, he took a stroll around the grassy area, smiling at children only a quarter of his size running around him, chasing each other in their energetic glee. He watched parents push their kids on the swings and solitary teenagers read under the shade of trees. As he walked past the football field, a chill went down his spine. There was a very troublesome atmosphere floating around here, he realized—some sort of bad vibe that he was picking up on. He looked around warily, not one to ignore his gut feelings, and he felt his eyes automatically land on one of the teenage boys out on the field.

"Riku," Roxas hissed under his breath, glaring at the tall, silver-haired boy as if he had personally offended him just by being there.

Riku Allen...Roxas's arch nemesis. Well, not really, but if Roxas had to choose an arch nemesis, he would be the one. Oh, how he loathed that boy. If he could only count all the times he wished him dead! Roxas frowned and turned away so that Riku couldn't see him.

"Well, if it isn't li'l Roxy Hernandez!"

Oops. Too late. Roxas ground his teeth at being called the humiliating nickname. He wasn't one for violence or anything, but hey, who would care if Riku was missing a few teeth?

"I really don't appreciate being called that, but thanks for the greeting, Riku-kins," he said with a smirk, turning to look into Riku's icy, cyan eyes. Riku cringed, but quickly caught himself before it became too obvious that he had been affected by Roxas's words.

"You know, Roxas, I was hoping to run into you," he remarked, walking off the field towards the blond. The other football players were frozen in place, watching their team captain confront the most popular boy in school. This was quite a sight, even for them.

"Oh, and why would that be?" Roxas said with a slight chuckle. "Wondering if you could get me to join the team again so I could pick up at least some of your slack?"

"Coach only wanted you because they didn't have me," Riku snapped, boring holes through the blond. Roxas knew he was encroaching on enemy territory now.

"Funny, I distinctly remember you trying out that year. Well, it doesn't matter whether you did or not, I suppose. You're still lucky that I turned him down, since he offered for me to be team captain and all." Roxas smiled smugly. He could see Riku bristle. The silver-haired boy quickly regained himself.

"Well, the past is the past," he said, shrugging everything off with surprising nonchalance. "The reason I am talking to you today is because of a warning for the future."

Roxas raised his eyebrows. "A warning for the future"? Riku wasn't starting to think he was psychic, was he? This was just too sad. But it was better to let him speak out before continuing to tease him.

At Roxas's sudden silence, Riku saw the opportunity to seize the upper hand of the verbal battle.

"I've been getting bored recently, you know," said the egocentric captain, crossing his arms. Roxas smirked.

"Oh, really? Lost interest in your bimbos, have you?"

"In all honesty? Yes."

"That was a rhetorical question, moron."

"Ooh? Getting a little agitated, are we?" Riku laughed. Roxas glared at him venomously. The silver-haired boy put up his hands in surrender. "Okay, okay. I'll get to the point already. You know Kairi Thomas?"

Roxas straightened himself in a very defensive pose. He knew something was up as soon as Riku had offered Kairi a ride to Axel's house, but talking about her to Roxas himself? Something here was very suspicious...

"I'm familiar with her, yes," he replied, too occupied with his thoughts to take another shot at his enemy.

"Well, of course you are," Riku said. "You talk to her all the time at school. She's cute, isn't she?"

Ooh...this was getting to be uncomfortable.

"Um...yeah, sure." Roxas scratched the back of his head awkwardly. He had never really thought about it. Kairi was Kairi. Was there ever anything more than that? "What does this have to do with me?"

"Oh, well, I was just making sure it was all right with you before I...you know..." He leaned in to whisper in Roxas's ear things that the blond boy definitely did _not_ need to hear.

"What the...?!" This was followed by a whole dictionary's worth of swear words on Roxas's part. He clapped his hands over his ears as if Riku was still near him, whispering more horrible things. "No! _No!_ That is definitely _not_ all right!"

"Good then." Riku grinned, and it was far from anything comforting. "Because if you _did_ approve, what would be the fun in that?"

"Eh?" Roxas's blue eyes were wide as he looked up into Riku's narrow ones.

"You think you can say all that stuff about me, let alone _to_ me, without feeling a little pain?" Riku sneered. "Sure, I could beat you up, but that would only be a temporary solution. This'll hurt a _lot_ more. Enjoy the redhead while you can."

He patted Roxas on the back before returning to the football field. The blond stood there for a moment, totally stunned.

Popularity is truly an ugly thing.

**xXx**

Roxas took another lazy bite into his sandwich. He looked at Yuffie, who was eagerly sharing her latest baseball story about how she hit a homerun and saved the game somehow. He then turned to Sora, who was obviously not listening to Yuffie drabble on, and was instead poking at his coleslaw with a plastic fork, frowning. Last but not least, Roxas turned to Kairi, who was taking a sip of her fruit punch and listening to the raven-haired girl intently, laughing politely when she heard a joke, smiling when Yuffie got overexcited and began slurring her words, and offering words of praise when the story began to fizzle. Her violet eyes were wide and attentive, her long eyelashes curling upwards rather attractively. Her red hair glowed a fiery crimson as the sun made her hair sparkle, and her lips were tinged with a natural, rosy color.

_She's cute, isn't she?_

Hmm...she was, now that he thought about it. There weren't too many girls who could manage to look that alluring without putting on any makeup. Actually, now that he was looking at it that way, Kairi was the kind of girl he would want to date—non-superficial, sweet, and able to keep him in line. He wondered what it would be like, to go on a date with her...

As soon as the thought crossed his mind, he jumped to his feet and let out an involuntary yelp. This caused all three teenagers to look up at him oddly. Roxas froze and glanced at each of their befuddled faces. He felt like quite the idiot right at that moment.

"Roxas?" Sora decided to be the first one to speak. "What's the matter?"

"Ah...um...ants," the blond replied in a shaky voice, leaning over and swiping at his spot on the blanket to make it more convincing. "Can't stand them, you know. They're so tiny and...obnoxious. Lifting food that's ten times their size! Ha! Show-offs!" He gave a final whack to the blanket before sitting down again. He could feel three pairs of eyes staring at him as if he belonged in some psycho facility. Not that he could blame them.

"Are you feeling okay?" Kairi asked, tilting her head to look closer into Roxas's face. "You've been acting weird ever since we sat down to eat."

"Yeah," Yuffie agreed, nodding. "I mean, you never were the most normal kid, but seriously. You seem more twisted than usual."

"Aw, c'mon!" Roxas cried, flinging out his arms as if he was offended. "A guy doesn't like ants, and suddenly he's twisted? Will you guys just relax? We're out for a picnic. I haven't been up to anything worth noting, I swear."

His friends stared at him for a moment—a moment that seemed way too long in Roxas's opinion—before exchanging glances and shrugging. Roxas breathed out in relief and continued eating his sandwich. Some things were better kept as secrets. Besides, he didn't want to worry Kairi, and he _definitely_ didn't want to peeve Yuffie. He cringed at the mere thought.

A fellow's thoughts are best to remain exactly that—thoughts.

**xXx**

"That was fun. Admit it, Roxas."

"Ah, shut up. I admit it already."

Kairi let out a giggle, her facial expression still as cheerful as ever. Roxas breathed out and allowed himself to smile a little. Yuffie and Sora had gone their separate ways home. Now Roxas was walking with Kairi to her house before continuing to his own. He was trying not to show he kept hearing Riku's voice in his head:

_Oh, well, I was just making sure it was all right with you before I...you know..._

Roxas's smile immediately disappeared. The idea was just barbaric. Pure, innocent Kairi, even being talked about that way? Roxas regretted not strangling the moron on the spot. He stole a glance at his red-haired friend, who was watching the sun slowly set as she hummed a song that Roxas couldn't recognize. He felt his hand twitch—only slightly, but so, so obviously.

_Before I...you know..._

"Hey, Roxas," Kairi said, turning to the blond boy, "I'm really glad you came. I really enjoyed it...even though you guys made me clean everything up."

_You know..._

"Yeah..." was all Roxas could manage. He could feel the twitching. It was more violent now.

"I mean, I know you hate cliché things like picnics," Kairi continued, "because you're too '_cool_' for them." She stressed the word "cool" and did air quotes as she spoke. "I know you did it for the list of dares and not for me, but I still really appreciate it." She grinned at him. "Thanks."

_Before I..._

"Don't worry about it," he mumbled looking down at his shoes, holding his wrist with his left hand.

"Yeah, I just wanted to say thank you. It's nothing for you to get all embarrassed about." Kairi laughed as she looked at Roxas's red face.

_I..._

He released his grip and felt his right hand slip comfortably into Kairi's left. Before she could say anything, he intertwined their fingers and squeezed her hand almost supportively, even though he was the one needing this—wanting this. When he looked back at Kairi, her face was as bright a red as a tomato.

"Roxas, what are you...?" she began to ask, trying to pull away, but Roxas held on tightly.

"Come on, we used to do this all the time when we were little," he stated coolly, trying to sound convincing.

"Well, yeah, but..."

"Just a little while longer. Please?" He put on his best puppy face, his blue eyes widening, his lip trembling almost cutely. It was his irresistible face—almost as dangerous as his lady-killer smile, considering it could even push his own friends into doing things for him.

"But...Ro..." Kairi stuttered reluctantly. Finally she released an exasperated sigh. "Fine. Just a little longer."

**xXx**

They held hands the whole way.

Not because they felt any need to, but just because they forgot about it after awhile. They talked normally, and the more time Roxas spent grasping onto the comforting warmth of her petite hand, the more he got used to it. When they actually reached Kairi's house, they almost sprained their fingers when Kairi tried separate to go inside. They both looked down, startled, at their closely entwined fingers. Red erupted on both faces. Roxas dropped her hand immediately and coughed a few times.

"S-Sorry 'bout that," he said apologetically. "I guess...I forgot about it."

"Ah...don't worry about it," Kairi replied shyly, looking down at her sneakers. Roxas immediately felt guilty for putting her in such an awkward position. When it's actually happening, you don't put much thought into it, but as soon as it's over, you have the time to consider everything, and Kairi had an annoying knack to overanalyze everything until she went insane.

He loved that about her. He loved everything about her because it was so completely opposite to his carefree manner. Kairi was so different to everyone else he knew—always so calm and composed. Okay, so not calm, but usually composed. In his opinion, she was perfect. He'd always thought that, ever since they were small and she cried when he teased her too much, when she got mad at him for being too insensitive, when she scolded him for putting himself into risky situations. He was just too afraid to admit it—too afraid to say out loud that there was something precious to him that he never wanted to lose.

He needed Kairi. He needed her to point out his stupidity. He needed her to hit him and yell at him and boss him around. He needed her to be there, for whatever reason. And if Riku took her way...

"Well," Kairi said, breaking through his cheeks, fragments of pink still on her cheeks, "it's been fun, Roxas. See you tomorrow."

She turned around to go inside, not even aware of the fact that they might not be able to speak this normally again. He felt the overwhelming urge to reach out and grab her for himself and go inside and say, "Sorry, Miss Thomas, but I'm afraid I'll have to take your daughter, and I know it doesn't make much sense right now, but I assure you I'm the better choice." He shook the thoughts out of his mind. What was this..._obsession_ he was having? He was being completely irrational.

Kairi seemed to be moving in slow motion almost. Maybe it was just him moving too fast. But before she could put her foot into the house, he reached out and wrapped his arms around her. Just like that. It happened so fast, he hardly had time to register what he was doing.

Kairi seemed to freeze under his touch. She stood, completely erect, trapped by his embrace. Roxas laid his head on top of hers, breathing in the flowery scent of her hair. It appeared she fit perfectly in his arms. This felt right—so right he could barely comprehend it.

"R-Roxas...?" she finally dared to speak after awhile. Her voice cracked with nervousness.

_Enjoy the redhead while you can._

It sounded so twisted when Riku said it, but Roxas couldn't get the words out of his head, try as he may. Why hadn't he ever truly appreciated Kairi until now? Why hadn't he noticed her, as she truly deserved? He felt so stupid...so guilty. He didn't want anyone to take her away, especially that sexist moron, Riku.

"I won't let him lay a finger on you," he murmured into her hair, just quietly enough so that she couldn't hear.

He finally released her, and she stumbled as soon as he did. She turned to look at him for a quick second, her face redder than a ripe tomato, her eyes as wide as a deer's in the headlights. Without saying another word, she slipped into the house.

Roxas sighed. She would be normal by tomorrow after she stayed up fretting about it all night and scribbling in her diary. His worries were beyond that.

Still, he couldn't help but relinquish a satisfied smile as he walked away from the house. She hadn't fought it.

**Hello again! Since I've spent most of the author's note ranting about Fan Fiction, I'm going to talk about the story in this bottom bit. **

**So? How do you like Riku? Yes, people! JERK RIKU IS BACK!!! Let's hear a cheer! For those of you who have read my other stories, I suppose you understand my enthusiasm, considering I have **_**way**_** more fun writing about the antagonist than I do the protagonist. I mean, I don't know about you, but in **_**Breakfast At Tifa's**_**, emo Riku is driving me insane! I think I'm going to get him to kill himself just to end all of our suffering. **

**There's something bothering me about this story though. It's Roxas's abusive mother. I mentioned before that she beats him on a regular basis, but now I don't know where to fit it in! I'm going to ask all of you your personal opinions now. Do you think I should keep with that idea, or dump it and just make his relationship with his mother unsteady? Because honestly here, people, I'm running out of space...and quickly. **

**Well, anyway, read and review! (Please?) **

**Sayonara! **


	12. Kiss the Rain

**Disclaimer: I do not own Kingdom Hearts (II), Roxas, Kairi, Riku, etc.**

**Author's Note: Hmm. It's been raining a lot lately, which brought me to this poetic little scribble. Now, let me clear things up for you people. Updates are beautiful things, are they not? Indeed, yes, I think we're all in agreement here that they are wonderful for both writer and readers alike. However, we must keep in mind that **_**this**_** particular writer has two other stories yet to complete, and though I love this story with all my heart (it **_**does**_** have a lot of promise), those other two stories are, alas, more popular, and therefore more in demand, so chapters for this are going to get **_**pretty**_** slow, I'm warning you.**

**Warning: Um…high chance of pneumonia. **

**Quick Author Babble: My summer is **_**totally**_** wasting away. **

Chapter 12: Kiss the Rain

Kairi looked out her window with a sigh. Little droplets of water cascaded down from the roof onto the glass pane. It was another rainy day on Destiny Islands. If this kept up, the island would be flooded, or so Kairi's pessimism told her.

"Kairi, sweetie?" Miss Thomas entered the room, looking at her daughter with concern. "Don't you want any breakfast before you head off to school?"

"No," Kairi mumbled. "I don't feel like eating."

"Why?" A crease of worry furrowed Miss Thomas's usually perfect forehead. "Are you sick?"

"No, I just…don't feel up to it." Kairi couldn't explain it. All these grey skies were making her feel depressed. It brought down her mood and made her dread any type of physical activity.

"Well, okay, but I'd like you to eat _something_ before you head off to school," Miss Thomas remarked, then glanced out the window. "Jeez, all this rain can really bring a person down! Do you want me to give you a ride to school?"

"Nah, that'll just make you late for your meeting. I can handle walking to school. I'll take my umbrella." Besides, Kairi didn't want to go to school too quickly. She just wanted to take her time today.

"Alright. See you later, love." Miss Thomas promptly kissed her daughter on the head, then turned and left the room.

Kairi sighed and listened to her mom's footsteps walking down the staircase and finally the slam of the door closing behind her. She slowly got up, attempted to pull down her kilt a little so it wasn't too short, and slumped down the stairs. Grabbing her backpack and umbrella, Kairi exited the house.

**xXx**

_Splish, splash. Splish, splash._

Kairi looked down as her soaked sneakers took step after step through the endless amount of puddles. In her right hand, she clutched onto her pink, polka-dotted umbrella, and in the other, her school bag, trying her best not to get it wet.

She found her thoughts wandering to Roxas. Where was he? He'd usually have caught up to her by now, yet here she was walking alone. Perhaps he'd been smart enough to get a ride from one of his parents.

…Nah. That would be a very un-Roxas-like thing to do. Roxas couldn't stand his mother, and he wouldn't want to bother his dad to drive him such a short distance. He should be showing up any minute…

"Hey!"

Kairi turned at the voice, smiling hopefully, but it quickly fell after she saw the person walking towards her.

"Riku?" She was both aghast and disappointed, for the silver-haired boy rarely made her conversations with her known, and even though it wasn't Roxas, it was still a pleasant surprise.

"Hey, Kairi," he greeted with a welcoming smile. "Kinda depressing weather today, huh?"

Kairi nodded slowly, taking time to examine the football captain—he was soaking wet from head to toe, the only thing even slightly protecting him a soggy math textbook, and his clothes were sticking to him like glue.

"Oh…wow," the redhead remarked, her jaw dropping at the state of the teenage boy. "You're completely soaked! Here, take my umbrella." She held it out to him, feeling little droplets of water fall upon her.

"You don't have to do that. We're almost at school anyway."

"Don't be silly. You'll get a cold if you keep this up." Kairi's motherly instincts were kicking in. Riku was unaware of this, as he wasn't as used to Kairi's ways as Roxas, but judging by her determined face, he knew he wouldn't get anywhere by fighting it off. Suddenly a smile—one would almost consider with mischievous intentions—grew on his face. Riku Allen had just gotten an idea.

"You know what?" he said in a suggestive tone, drawing closer to the redhead. "Neither of us deserve to get sick. Why don't we share the umbrella? Here, I'll hold it so it fits to my height since I'm the taller one, and we'll both make it to school dry…" He looked down at his damp clothes and Kairi's wet hair and muddy boots. "Relatively speaking, of course." He chuckled. Kairi laughed too, but nervously. The only boy she'd ever shared an umbrella with was Roxas, and that was different. Riku was a _boy_-boy, not a friend-boy, and especially not a best-friend-since-forever-boy.

"Um…well…okay," she stuttered awkwardly. Riku took the umbrella from her hand and held it over their heads. Unfortunately, Kairi's umbrella was really only meant to cover one person, so they ended up having to squeeze awful close—so close, in fact, that Riku had to put his arm around her shoulders just to keep her from falling out completely from under the shelter. The close contact made her cheeks flush. He was warm and she seemed to fit perfectly under his arm.

As they approached Destiny High, people started looking over at them. Eyes followed them up the steps and past the columns leading to the school. Kairi could feel her face grow continually redder. Did people think they were a couple? That would be a big deal, wouldn't it, for her, a nobody, to be with Riku, a social idol?

Riku folded the umbrella up and handed it to her as they separated. He gave her a smile that seemed to sparkle like pearls—Roxas had given her smiles like those, but they didn't make nearly the same effect. Her knees suddenly grew wobbly and her face went so hot she felt like her skin was going to burn.

"Thanks," he said, and that one word echoed in her ears as he walked backwards down the hallway, keeping his eyes locked with hers. "See you around." He finally turned his back to her and continued to his next destination.

Kairi stalled for a second, lost in what felt like a dream world, where everything was covered in a soft, pink mist and nothing was bad or with ill intentions. Her eyelids half-closed, a peaceful smile on her face, she stood in the middle of the hallway in a dazed state.

"…ri…Kairi…KAIRI!" a voice that had seemed at a distance before suddenly was right in her face, and loud too. Kairi looked up, a bit peeved, to meet the gaze of two sky blue eyes, glaring at her in agitation.

"Hm?" she murmured, still a little bit groggy. "Roxas? What's the matter?"

"_You're_ the matter!" he cried, grabbing her shoulders and shaking her roughly, making her head bob painfully, which was more than enough to wake her up. "What's with you?"

"With me?" Kairi repeated, forcefully separating from her best friend, feeling both embarrassment and anger flush to her cheeks as she realized how foolish she must've seemed, blanking out in public like that.

"Yeah, you're all day-dreamy today," Roxas remarked, scratching the back of head, which is what he normally did when he was intrigued by something.

Kairi looked down at her boots, which reminded her that she had to change into her dress shoes before heading off to class. It also made her think of the walk over, her and Riku all cuddly under her umbrella…It made her turn tomato red just thinking about it. Of course, she couldn't tell Roxas about that. Roxas couldn't stand Riku, and, as he'd already said about a million times, he didn't think Kairi was safe with him. Besides, he was a _guy_. Girls couldn't go around telling boys about their romantic escapades, even if that boy _was_ her best friend. There was something morally wrong about it.

"Nothing, really," Kairi lied, trying to sound cool about it, even though she could still feel the heat on her face from thinking about the situation she'd just been in. "Just the rain, is all. It's kind of depressing."

Roxas nodded to show he understood. "Too much rain always got you down, Kai, even when you were little."

"Hm," Kairi murmured, acknowledging the statement with a nod of her head. She looped her arm with his and leaned against him a bit, as if they were in an old-fashioned movie taking a walk in the park instead of just going toward their lockers. "Hey, Roxas, do you think we've changed at all since then?"

The redhead looked up at him with curious, violet eyes, and Roxas met her gaze with an amused half-smile.

"How do you mean?" he asked teasingly. "Because if you mean in height, then yes…" Kairi nudged him with her elbow, silently telling him to cut it out.

"Don't play dumb," she said. "I mean personality-wise. Like, in maturity."

Roxas cocked his head and rubbed his chin in fake thoughtfulness. Kairi elbowed him again, causing him to laugh and actually consider the question.

"Well, we cry less," he offered, hoping to not get injured this time as he looked at Kairi to show he actually meant it seriously, "but we sulk more."

She giggled, unlocking their arms to start entering her lock combination.

"You always were a pouter," she pointed out. Roxas stuck out his lip childishly.

"I was not!"

"Who said I was speaking in past tense?" This time it was Roxas's turn to poke her. He turned toward his own locker and, with quick fingers, unlocked it and opened it up. Kairi looked at his easygoing, smiling face. She felt guilt swirling around in her stomach. She had lied to him. She _never_ lied to Roxas. Well, barely ever, and on those rare occasions they were hardly significant and forgotten in mere seconds. But this…this was _huge_. Well, at least, it felt huge. And it felt wrong too, considering Roxas's open dislike for Riku, and the bubbly feeling she had been enjoying before now just felt dirty. When Roxas caught her looking at him out of the corner of his eye, he turned and grinned at her with his almost perfect white teeth. Kairi still didn't know how he maintained those, considering he ate an incredible amount of junk food, but at that moment it didn't matter. She whipped her head back around and pretended to go back to her business.

**xXx**

Kairi stood in line for lunch, thinking about the English test coming up. She was sorting her study schedule in her head—one hour per day, and if she couldn't manage to get one hour in on one day, she would study two hours the next. But what if she couldn't study for two days? Hmm…a conundrum.

"Hey, Kairi." She looked behind her to see Riku smiling at her. He'd already gotten his food and stood there holding his tray, quite obviously waiting for her. She felt a light blush crawl to her cheeks, but she ignored him as she slid her tray down the metal bars. She still felt bad for lying to Roxas, and besides, she still wasn't certain about him. Was he really the playboy Roxas said he was? Either way, she felt she'd better find out more about him before becoming friends with him. Riku followed her, and she realized she couldn't avoid him. She looked around worriedly to see if Roxas was in the room yet—he wasn't, thank goodness. She built up the courage to turn and smile at Riku, though she was feeling light-headed with all the butterflies fluttering around in her stomach.

"H-Hi," she stuttered nervously. Now that they were looking at each other face-to-face, she got a good look at his features—he was very attractive, with his narrow, striking, cyan eyes and broad nose; his lips were thin and a light pink; his skin was tanned from all his time in the sun, but not too much as to make his long, platinum hair awkward-looking; he was muscular and wore fashionable clothing, but not incredibly noticeable so that he got a coolly laidback effect. It was no wonder that he was so popular. He seemed nice too, and that was a definite way to get onto Kairi's good side.

"Want to sit with me for lunch?" he offered, looking hopeful. Kairi felt like dancing at the thought, but she knew she'd definitely be in for it if Roxas got her sitting with him.

"Well…uh…you see…" she tried to explain, but before she could finish, Roxas walked in with a gaggle of girls surrounding him. Both Riku and Kairi quickly got distracted, forgetting about each other as they watched the blond boy try to get the young women to leave him alone.

"Please, ladies," he said, sounding more pleading than flirty, "I need to have lunch." The girls nodded and started whispering to each other, giggling excitedly. Roxas glared at them. "That means for me to sit down." They continued with their chortling. "Without you." At those last three syllables, they looked up at him, looking like deer in headlights. Roxas did not let go of his locked gaze. The girls turned their heads down and separated, dejected.

Sora and Yuffie looked at all the depressed girls walking past their table and laughed themselves sick. Roxas sent them a hard look. They quieted, but not by much.

"Does that include me, Roxy?" a voice that sounded like a mixture of tingling of bells and a snake's hiss rang through the air, causing most, if not all, people in the cafeteria to look up. As Roxas fixed his gaze on the person walking towards him, his mouth twitched and his face turned a shade of red that Kairi had never seen on him before, obviously flustered.

"N-N-Naminé," he stuttered. It took him a moment to realize he was looking sort of moronic. As soon as he did, he pounded his chest and let out a forced cough, then shook his head as if knocking out all the "uncool" in him. He faced the blonde girl with a semi-controlled stare—he couldn't do any better, Kairi figured, since looking away was impossible when Naminé was around. The girl was, admittedly, drop-dead gorgeous, with her long, soft-looking blonde hair, thick, dark eyelashes, and hourglass figure. Kairi glared at Naminé automatically just from complimenting the girl in her thoughts. There were still so many things she didn't like about her—how she always had to wear the smallest clothes possible, how she insulted every other girl that wasn't in her little posse, how she used so much make-up she looked slutty…and her _flirting_! Ugh! Kairi didn't even _want_ to get started on that. "Well, I kind of want to sit with my friends, you know…"

"Hmm…" Naminé said, flipping her hair and walking closer to Roxas. She wrapped her fingers around his chequered tie, bringing him so close to her face that their noses were almost touching. "Too bad. I'm disappointed." Her voice was so slick that it made Kairi nauseous. Obviously Roxas wasn't, as his face was burning a bright crimson again. He cleared his throat nervously.

"Well…" he murmured, "I suppose…you could join us…"

"_What?!_" Yuffie shouted, springing up from her spot at the group's table. "You're kidding, right?! I don't want to share my personal space with Nammy McBimbo here!"

Naminé looked thoroughly insulted. She flipped her blonde hair back and walked right up to the disturbed Yuffie, raising herself until she was at her utmost height. Yuffie and Naminé were both rather tall, and equally intimidating. Although Naminé had that slender, fragile look about her when she was around boys (namely Roxas), when she was facing up against any kind of rival, she instantly turned herself into a formidable character. Yuffie was menacing when she wanted to be. Despite her usual energy and hyper activity, when threatened she naturally became cold and territorial.

"Listen, Kisaragi," Naminé snapped, "I don't know what your problem is, but Roxas just invited me to this table. So either deal with it or get lost."

Yuffie opened her mouth as if to reply, but then shut it again and picked up her tray, obviously furious as she asked to sit with her baseball team, who were congregated at a very long table. Too scared to say no, they nodded their heads.

"Yuffie…" Sora said, now feeling a little remorse as he watched the girl sit down, slamming down her tray with her. Roxas opened and shut his mouth desperately, but nothing seemed to want to come out. Naminé sat down at the table, and slowly, awkwardly, he sat down beside her.

Kairi clenched her fists in rage. How dare he ask _Naminé_ to sit with him! Well, if she was there, Kairi was certainly not going to be! Let Naminé's friends take her seat, like she cared!

"I think I _will_ sit with you," she said, smiling at the silver-haired boy. "Thanks, Riku." Ooh, revenge was so sweet. "Lead the way."

"But you haven't gotten any food…" Riku began, but as Kairi hit him with a steely stare, he swallowed back his words. "Okay, whatever. It's over here."

As Kairi sat down and Roxas looked up and saw her talking with Riku, she glanced back at him and smiled maliciously. Roxas's jaw looked like it was going to disconnect from his face, it was open so wide. He stood up abruptly, then walked over to Kairi, scowling.

"Kairi, what are you doing?" he asked, grinding his teeth as he looked at Riku.

"I'm sitting with Riku," Kairi replied coolly. "Is there something wrong with that?"

"Yeah, actually, there's something wrong with that! Didn't I tell you to steer clear of Riku? Don't you know that he's bad news?" He wasn't lowering his voice or being inconspicuous at all. Kairi looked over, horrified, at Riku, who looked back at her a little sadly.

"Roxas!" she hissed. "What is your problem?!"

"What's _yours_?!" he snapped. "Okay, that's it, you're coming with me."

"What…? Don't be stupid! I'm not going anywhere…" Roxas grabbed her arm and pulled her right out of her seat. Riku looked alarmed now, but he said nothing to get them to stop. Kairi struggled to break free of his grip, but she couldn't. Everyone was looking up at them. They had made quite the scene, and now they were leaving as dramatically as they had entered.

Roxas's grip tightened on her wrist, and he led her down the hall and out the door with a ferocity Kairi had never seen before.

"Ow! Roxas, you're hurting me!" she cried, once again trying to reel her arm back, desperately thrashing it about. Roxas didn't let go. He didn't even loosen up. When they were outside, the rain pouring down upon them, did he finally drop her wrist. He didn't face her at first, just stayed in the position that he had been while leading her so that his back was facing her. He ran a hand through his hair, not speaking, until finally he chose his words.

"Didn't I tell you not go near him?" he asked. His voice was calm, but there was something about him that made the situation all the scarier.

"…Yes," she replied quietly, not knowing what else to say. He turned to face her then, his expression hard as stone. His eyes showed such disappointment in her that she couldn't take it. She felt furious. She had done nothing wrong, but she was being treated like some sort of criminal. "I didn't do anything wrong! Riku's very nice and he offered me to sit with him, and after you were going all googly-eyed with Naminé, I figured why not?! I mean, why am I getting all the blame here?! Riku treats me like I'm something special, and you're just…just getting dragged around like a dog on a leash when it comes to Naminé!" She shut her eyes tightly and could feel rain splash down upon them. She was soaking wet but it didn't matter anymore. After all, the only sound that filled the silence was the drops colliding with the ground. Her breathing was finally calming down from her fit, but Roxas still hadn't spoken, and she was getting anxious.

"Is that really what you think?" he finally asked, and when she dared to look at him again, his expression was unreadable—his eyes looked a little sad, but his jaw was clenched in anger too, and the way his arms hung limply at his sides showed that there was a little bit of him that had known some of what she said was true. Kairi shakily nodded. She wondered what he was thinking. She always found herself wishing she could read Roxas's mind, because sometimes, for the life of her, she couldn't tell what was going on in there. "Hmm," was all he said, before looking up at the grey sky.

Kairi watched him carefully. She weaved her arms together in a desperate attempt to stay warm before looking up at the sky as well. It was dreary, but in a way, almost beautiful, because even through the dark clouds, cracks of light escaped, making an almost breathtaking contrast of white and black. The little droplets shone when the slightest bit of light hit them, twinkling like tiny falling stars. Kairi looked over at Roxas, who, in return, was looking at her.

"Kiss the rain," he ordered. The request was so funny and he said it in such a no-nonsense tone that Kairi burst out laughing.

"W-What?" she wheezed between chuckles, but Roxas only repeated it.

"Kiss the rain. That's our dare for the day." And that's what made her stop laughing. _Our_ dare. He had used the word "our". Until that point it had always been "my"—_my_ dare, _my_ risk, _my_ thing. Kairi had just been the assistant. But now they were in it together, and Roxas was making a point of that. It was no longer only his…it was _their_ adventure. And that's what made the command a little less ridiculous and little more special, and as both teenagers looked up to the sky and closed their eyes, feeling the splash of cold water against their lips, a silent agreement was made that no matter what happened, they would be there for each other, and they both had the feeling that something major was just around the corner.

**Okay, so here's the scoop on perfect sorceress's summer life. The other day I watched **_**My Sister's Keeper**_**. It was **_**so**_** sad, I came home all depressed. So I came home and wrote until my melancholy evaporated. Today, I watched **_**Howl's Moving Castle**_** (well, most of it, anyways—I had to leave for an optometrist appointment before I could finish it), and I was completely mystified. I had a weird sort of magical feeling surrounding me the rest of my evening. Oh, Disney, how **_**do**_** you do it? Of course, most of this was due to the positively amazing Studio Ghibli, to whom I now pay my greatest respects. And, finally, tomorrow I'm going to **_**Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince**_**. Wahoo! I've been waiting for this for the whole month!**

**Read and review!**

**Have a nice summer!**


	13. Scavenger Hunt

**Disclaimer: I do not own Kairi, Sora, Yuffie, or Destiny Islands. But I **_**do**_** own Roxas. It's official. **

**Author's Note: Ummm…yeah. It's been awhile. And this story is delightfully easy to write, so away I went. I'll be sad when it's over. It's fun making up dares. But…like…oh, I don't know. **

**Warning: **_**Some**_** mature language, I guess. If you consider "hell" and "crap" as offensive, that is. And if you do, then what are you doing on Fan Fiction?!**

**Quick Author Babble: So, this chapter goes a little bit like this…**

Chapter 13: Scavenger Hunt

Roxas sat in his living room, sipping at a glass of Coke while watching the weather forecast. He stared at the information without really absorbing it. Tomorrow the sky will be cloudy, but the chances of rain were low—at least, lower than usual. It would be a lukewarm day—a perfect day for a scavenger hunt.

He frowned and rested his chin on his hand. The week before, Yuffie had convinced everyone to sign up for the "Destiny High Scavenger Hunt", a day where the registered students get released from school for the entire day. Great, right? Well, there's a catch—the students have to go around town searching for the items on the list. If they don't gather all of them by five o'clock, then they have to write a thousand word essay on a topic of the student activity council's choice.

Obviously, Roxas wasn't up for that. He had enough work he wasn't doing as it was. The only reason he was going was because Yuffie had _dared_ him to do it. It was a challenge. "Complete the scavenger hunt" were her exact words, with the final three words of death: "I dare you." Somehow, those words were always Roxas's weak point. So, there he was, hoping there would be flooding and the scavenger hunt would be cancelled.

"Can I skip school tomorrow?" he called to no one in particular, and his mother's hoarse, irritating voice replied.

"No."

"Ugh." He made a face. "Dad, can I _please_?"

His father entered the room. Mr. Hernandez was a big, lovable man, with light brown hair and kind, hazel eyes. He always looked tired but worked hard nonetheless. He looked at Roxas, trying to judge the situation fairly.

"Why don't you want to go to school tomorrow, sport?" he asked in that incredibly fatherly way that annoyed most teenage boys. Roxas really didn't mind that much though, because he didn't see his father often, and therefore didn't care how he spoke.

"There's some stupid scavenger hunt thing that Yuffie's making me participate in," he answered grumpily. "I don't particularly want to go. In fact, I'm _positive _I don't want to go."

There was a pause. "Is Kairi going?"

Roxas glared at his father. Mr. Hernandez had always really, really, _really_ liked Kairi and approved so much of her close relationship with Roxas that he wanted her to come over all the time. Of course, Roxas never let her. But nonetheless, it was always "Kairi's such a good influence" and "Kairi's so responsible" and "oh, why don't you ask Kairi to help you study?"

The blond boy appreciated that his father didn't mind him always being with Kairi, but there's a limit at exactly how much Kairi-praising he could stand. Besides, it was especially pathetic when he was constantly compared to the redhead. It was never much of a competition.

"Yeah, but that just makes it even worse," he responded quickly. "I mean, it's a _girl_ thing, Dad. And Kairi's so smart that if she loses at the scavenger hunt she could finish her essay in half an hour, tops. Mine will sit uncompleted for weeks…months, maybe."

"It's got nothing to do with intelligence, Roxas," his mother then said, walking into the room coolly. Her voice was sharp as usual. "You're just lazy. Kairi is prompt. If you were more like her, the world would be a better place."

Mr. Hernandez shifted his weight uncomfortably as Roxas glared at the middle-aged woman. She sent him one right back. Finally, Mr. Hernandez decided to intercept.

"Listen, your mother is right," he told Roxas. "If you exert yourself more, I'm sure—"

"This isn't about schoolwork, Dad," the blond interrupted, cutting right across the sentence. "This is just about a stupid scavenger hunt. Can I skip it or not?"

"Well—" Mr. Hernandez tried once again to answer.

"Absolutely not. Skipping school for such a ridiculous reason! Besides, it's not even school. Isn't that what you do all the time anyway, cut classes? Deal with it, Roxas." She said it so quickly that by the time she left the room, Roxas hadn't even registered it all yet.

Mr. Hernandez looked at his son. "Um…well…I'm going to have to agree." Roxas let out a grunt that showed he disapproved and sank back into the seat, rolling his eyes in a "so typical" kind of way. The middle-aged man tried to redeem himself. "I mean, look at it this way—if you don't go like you promised, then isn't it kind of a cop out?"

Roxas didn't reply, but sat there thinking about it for a little while. He could hear his father quietly sneak out of the room, and felt the words "cop out" ring again and again in his head. If he didn't go, then he wouldn't have completed a dare. He would have _copped out_.

Had his mother—unintentionally, maybe—just saved him from making a huge mistake?

**xXx**

When Roxas arrived the next day, he could already see Kairi, Yuffie, and Sora in the relative-sized group of teenagers standing outside the school. He made his way towards them, but as he was doing so, another person caught his eye—Naminé Clark was waving at him rather flirtatiously. She was wearing a little denim skirt with a beaded pink tank top, since they weren't required to wear school uniform for the day. He blinked and found he could not look away from the sight. When he gave a jerky wave in return, she giggled and blew him a kiss, which, of course, gave him the usual experience of losing all feeling in his legs and have heat radiate from his face.

Sora let out a loud cough, and Roxas turned in his direction to see him signalling to Kairi and Yuffie, who seemed to be quite unpleasant to deal with at the moment. Roxas smiled back shyly, and immediately noticed Kairi's face change from annoyed to depressed. When their eyes met she looked away quickly and turned to chat with Yuffie. Thinking he was sort of in the clear, Roxas took the daring step towards the group.

"…so we should just split up and meet back here at five," Kairi was saying, and Yuffie nodded in agreement. At those words, Roxas grabbed the redhead's shoulders and grinned.

"Looks like we're in a group then, _Kai-ri_," he chirped, singing out her name with exuberance. She quickly pulled away and frowned at him.

"I was thinking we could all go our separate ways, actually. Then we'd be able to cover more ground." It was painfully obvious that she was mad at him. Roxas couldn't think of what to say in response to the statement.

"Sounds like a plan," Sora remarked, and as soon as he was done with the last syllable, there was a loud, magnified voice that broke through the chatting of the crowd.

"The scavenger hunt is now commencing. Please come up and get the required sheet for your group." Each group had different things on their list, to make it less obvious where the different items were. Roxas lagged after Kairi and Yuffie as they bounced up and collected their sheet. The four friends were group two. Kairi barely looked it over before ripping it into quarters. Each person ended up having five items to find. Kairi handed Roxas's his last, and without another word marched off down the sidewalk. Yuffie followed her for awhile, talking things over before separating.

"Well, good luck," Sora said with an uncaring nod before walking away.

"You too." They'd better have good luck, otherwise Roxas would be stuck with some lame essay to write over the weekend. Roxas looked at the first item on his list:

_A free promotional pen (must have company's info on it)._

"A pen…?" he muttered under his breath. "Lame." You'd think the student activity council would've come up with something better than _that_. Promotional pens were everywhere.

He walked towards the side of town where most businesses had planted themselves. He entered a real estate office, went right up to the desk, where he was met with a surprised young secretary wondering what a teenager was doing out of school to go there. Roxas casually looked around her desk, and spotted the promotional pen almost instantly, sitting in a mug to the side of a stack of papers. Just then, the phone rang. The woman turned her back to him to answer it, and immediately he swooped for it, slipped it into his pocket, and promptly took his exit. Ah, the things they teach you at school!

**xXx**

_A family recipe from a local resident._

"Oh, great. Socialization skills, huh?" Roxas sighed, rubbing his chin, knowing the student activity council all too well. This would be a little more difficult than getting a pen, but there were other ways of going about it.

His eyes wandered around warily, searching for other people from Destiny High. There were some freshmen that Roxas _thought_ he recognized, but he wasn't sure. Plus, he couldn't just walk up and be like, "Hey, man, you live around here? Oh, yeah, cool. Say, you have any family recipes on you?" Of course he couldn't do that! Plus, who could remember a family recipe? That's just so stu—

"Problems, Roxas?" a familiar voice chimed behind him, and he turned to face Kairi, who had a pen tucked behind her ear and a clipboard held firmly in her right hand.

"Just a little one," he replied, relieved to see her. Since Kairi was in his group, she _had _to help him some way or another. "I need a family recipe of a local…"

She took his part of the sheet from him, laid it flat on her clipboard and scribbled away. In a minute or two, she handed it back to him.

"There," she said firmly, looking him straight in the eye. "That'd be the Thomas classic ravioli with spinach. It's been in the family for generations."

He stared at it. Leave it to Kairi to remember every single ingredient.

"Thanks, Kai," he remarked gratefully. "So, what brings you to this area, exactly?"

"Heading to the post office," she replied curtly, her tone suggesting she was still a little irritated with him. "I need a one cent stamp. Where are _you_ going now?"

Roxas looked down at his list. "Palm Street, apparently. To the telephone booth."

"Well, good look with that. See ya." And then she was gone again. Roxas hated when she was frustrated with him. He wondered what he had done that was so bad as he strolled towards Palm Street.

**xXx**

Roxas browsed through the local restaurants, feeling a chilly wind sail past him. The afternoon was getting the better of the weather channel, and the grey clouds blocked the warmth from the sweet sunshine. He had forgotten to bring a sweater, and he was only wearing a vest, so goose bumps were all over his arms.

"Ugh!" He relinquished an unhappy grunt as a particularly bad blast hit him right in the face. Seeing the nearest restaurant—a charming little Italian place—he ran for it. So there he stood, between the two entrances that led to the set tables, trying his best to resist the welcoming scent of tomato sauce.

"Roxas?" The voice was melodic, but a little poisonous-sounding. He turned to see Naminé—beautiful, blonde Naminé, still looking perfectly gorgeous despite the terrible weather. He blinked to make sure he wasn't hallucinating.

"Ah, Naminé, what are you doing here?" he asked. He didn't know if he should be embarrassed or not to be caught rubbing his arms and breathing out hoarsely in a public place.

She held up what appeared to be a scavenger hunt sheet. He breathed out in relief. So he _wasn't_ a total loser for signing up for this thing. If Naminé had done it, then most likely he'd be able to get away with it.

"I needed a take-out menu," she explained, and then held up a kids' paper colouring sheet that had some meals scribbled on it. "How about you?"

Roxas gestured to the list of items clenched in his hand. "I'm looking for the restaurant that's open latest on Saturday nights."

"Oh, well, I can help you with that one," she said coolly. "It's Ernie's Roadhouse. Open 'til twelve, usually past. My friends and I hang out there all the time."

"Oh…um…thanks," he remarked gratefully, scribbling it down on his sheet and beaming at her. It accidentally came out as his lady killer smile. Naminé's cheeks turned a light pink, and she seemed a little flustered for a few seconds before looking up at him again.

"What's next on your list?"

"Hmm…let's see…the business card of a cosmetics salesperson." He grimaced. "How the heck am I going to get something like that?" Yuffie or Kairi should have gotten something like this, not _him_.

"Oh, that's _easy_. Here, come with me." Naminé took his hand and together they left the restaurant. Roxas wasn't embarrassed, but a little taken aback that he was suddenly walking hand-in-hand with Blondie Queen Naminé. The only person he had ever held hands with was Kairi. And that was a long, long time ago, and they were so young the redhead probably didn't even remember.

He looked away and tried to maintain a cool head. Somehow, no matter what he was doing, his thoughts always drifted to Kairi. But he didn't want to think about her. No, he _refused_. She was angry with him and kept coolly brushing him off, so why should he care? Any other guy in this situation would be thinking only about Naminé, not some other girl who they were only friends with. But Roxas wasn't just "any other guy", and he understood that. He was _the _guy. The top. The male idol. The celebrity among teenage girls. His mind was allowed to think other thoughts than any average Joe. Him being with Naminé…it was almost expected. Him thinking about Kairi _while_ being with Naminé…now _that _wasn't planned. He chuckled half-heartedly. And there his brain went, after Kairi once more…

"Roxas?" Pale blue eyes looked upwards into his. "Why are you laughing?"

"Uh…no reason, really. Just thought of something funny." She looked satisfied by this answer and they continued walking ahead.

**xXx**

Naminé had been right. It _was _easy. The blonde attracted salespeople like a magnet. It took mere seconds of walking downtown before finding a cosmetic salesperson. She handed over her business card without hesitation, but as more started crowding around, the duo raced off, leaving a group of disappointed business people in their dust.

He laughed as they finally swung around a curb. "Wow. That was scary. Does that happen to you often?"

She nodded with a slight giggle. "I guess they think that if people see me with their makeup on, it'll raise sale rates or something. It can get pretty annoying."

"I can imagine." He slowed to a jog, then a walk, and allowed Naminé to catch her breath. She paused, releasing a big puff of air that showed a little in the cold air, before resuming walking by his side. "Well, that was my last item. Thanks a bunch!"

"No problem," the girl replied. "I finished my part awhile ago at the restaurant."

They nodded at each other, and as they approached Destiny High, Roxas couldn't help admonish the blonde girl again. At school, she was always really flirty and kind of threatening, and they were almost formal with each other—putting on a performance for their classmates more than actually conversing. But outside, alone, it was different. She had related with him, more than Kairi…more than anyone. Naminé was bold. He liked that. They were similar in that way. And it kind of made him want to bond with her more.

"Well, this is where we separate," he said coolly, and he had expected that he would turn around and walk away like he usually did, with that sort of mysterious air that left most girls swooning.

But he didn't. It felt like his shoes were glued to the ground. He was locked with Naminé's stare, as much as she was with his. And, he noticed her stand on her toes to reach up a little, and he found himself automatically leaning down himself…

The rest was just kind of blurry. He could feel this warm sensation on his mouth, but he couldn't concentrate at all, like his brain had temporarily left his body and was just hovering over him, laughing at him as he tried to get a grip on his surroundings. When he finally found the strength to straighten his posture, Naminé came into focus. She wasn't blushing anymore, but staring at him with this look of mischief on her face.

His intuition was telling him that he'd been tricked. But he wasn't quite sure why.

The moments afterwards escaped him. Naminé didn't say anything, just turned around and left to go join her group. He stood there, staring after her, slowly registering the fact that he had just gotten kissed. Roxas wasn't unfamiliar with the subject, but he had never thought too much into it—hormones made his head hurt.

But now, he was just standing here, completely immobilized. All thanks to that girl. Or angel. Or demon. He honestly couldn't tell.

Steadily, he took step after step backwards along the damp grass, looking up at the darkening sky and breathing in the cold air. He licked his lips to keep them from going dry to be met with the sweet taste of vanilla lip gloss. And that was when it hit him.

_Naminé had just kissed him._

Roxas's eyes widened. His hands shook. Then, after a moment of stunned silence, he opened his mouth and let out a loud, "ARGH!!!" He turned to face the right away and dashed at full speed towards the quickly approaching Sora and Yuffie. Then, without really thinking, he tackled Sora to the ground.

"SORA!!!" he yelled, and then proceeded to share with him all the cusses he knew.

"WHAT THE HELL??!" shouted the second party, so furious he started shrieking out unmentionables, and they both just sat there screaming swear words at each other until Yuffie dragged Roxas off of the brunet boy, dumping him on the grass.

"What's going on?" she asked them. Sora shrugged and brushed himself off, cringing in discomfort as he realized the backside of his clothes were all wet. He stood up and glared at Roxas, who glared right back. Sora was the one who'd always been like, "Naminé's a fine piece of work" and "oh, she's got you all flustered" and "jeez, you must be really into her" and all that crap. Bastard.

Yuffie glanced at Roxas, her dark brown eyes examining him for any clue as to why he was so alarmed. Finding none, she repeated her question, and the blue-eyed boy relinquished a sigh.

"I guess it's nothing." He got off the ground, frowning at his horrible exaggeration of how "unimportant" it was. "Where's Kairi?"

Sora and Yuffie exchanged glances before shrugging and shaking their heads.

"What? You mean she's not here yet?" He glanced around in minor alarm. Kairi should've been back already. He had glanced at her list before, and she had already had four items. She should've been done at least an hour ago. He pulled his vest tight around himself. "Crap, she could be in serious trouble!" That premature worry was settling in. Kairi being a girl was mostly why he was worried, and her being not so skilled in self defence was the rest of it. "I'd better go take a look around. She's probably at the shopping centre…" He was talking as he was walking away, glancing over his shoulder at the two friends, whose brows were starting to furrow in concern. "Sora, look around the school for her, and Yuffie, start making phone—"

He walked into someone. This caused him to stop talking and look up in frustration at the person in front of him. This was _not_ the time to be interrupted.

"Sorry," he grunted not-so-politely, but when he saw that it was none other than the very redhead he had just about to go searching for, he screeched to a halt and veered to look at her. "Kairi?!"

She stared at him with dulled, blank eyes for a few seconds before realizing that he had just talked to her. "Oh, Roxas. Hi."

He looked at her oddly. "Where have you been? We were just about to go look for you."

"Where have I been?" she repeated slowly, then looked up at him with sudden alarm. "N-Nowhere! I mean…around." Then she was out again, like a light, and was no longer looking at him, but kind of looking _past_ him, like he was invisible or something.

"Kai…?" He waved a hand in front of her face, but she was lost. With a sigh he grabbed Kairi's forearm and led her over to Yuffie and Sora. Judging by her expression, he would regret it if he asked what had happened to her. Just too many things had happened that day.

**Ooh…cliffhanger! But life is full of cliffhangers. So this is how it goes, alright? I'm too lazy to write anymore…**

**Alright, T-H-A-N-K Y-O-U V-E-R-Y M-U-C-H to all who reviewed! I'm really happy and honoured (getting formal here) to be instilling interest in Roxiri…or Kaixas. Whatever. **

**Anyway, ADVERTISEMENT TIME!!! This is the part of the show where I tell everyone about my new Fiction Press account! Because it's brand spanking new and it's the GREATEST! Well, no, to be fair, it is **_**not**_** the greatest. But it's fun, I guarantee you, so if you're interested at all, it would make one happy writer if you dropped by! (Go to my "perfect sorceress" profile for more information.) **

**Okay, so, see ya, chicas! I'm procrastinating on my science lab to post this…**

**Read and review!**

**Goodbye!**


	14. The Failed Dare

**Disclaimer: I do not own Kingdom Hearts (II), Kairi, Roxas, Riku, etc.**

**Author's Note: Why can't I own Riku? Like, honestly. Imagine all the things I could do with him. I could, like, make him into a bad guy. I could make him into a sweet, sensitive guy. I could turn him into a sex offender. Or, I could turn him into a popular jerk. Or, I could turn him into an easily-used emo. But I've done all those things already. I think if I really owned Riku, and if he was standing right in front of me, I would have to toss him out of a window and see if he flies. Because God knows, he can do everything else. **

**Warning: OMG, drunks and smokers! AND OLD FOGIES!**

**Quick Author Babble: I got my hair cut. How strange it looks. **

Chapter 14: The Failed Dare

_Dear Diary –_

Kairi paused, nibbled on a fingernail, and glanced at the window nervously, just in case Roxas had somehow managed to slither up the drainpipe again, and was spying on her from the perch on her bedroom window. She knew that Roxas wasn't one for being inconspicuous, but the thought made her shiver. She looked back down at the nearly blank page of the only thing that knew everything about her—her journal. Her fingertip accidentally brushed against her lower lip. She froze, then turned red all over. If anyone could see what she was thinking, she would die.

_I've got a secret._

Her diary, as it was, did not have many secrets within its pages. It knew many things about her, sure—what she liked, what she hated; what she aced, what she failed; what she cried over and what she beamed about. It had the numerous complaints that Kairi had about her life as well. But this was the first entry Kairi's diary would experience that would be written about matters of the heart.

She picked up her pencil, chewed her bottom lip for a moment, turned red again, and began to write.

_Roxas must never, ever know about this._

Another first.

_The thing is…I think I may have fallen in love._

The statement made her blush again, and the next thing she knew she had her head banged against the table. She was so embarrassed. And she was the only one who ever read her journal.

…_Riku Allen stole my first kiss today._

**xXx**

She didn't know how it happened, really. Firstly, she remembered being really, really pissed at Roxas.

"That stupid Naminé!" she muttered under her breath, kicking at a stray pebble on the sidewalk. It hit the lamp post and ricocheted onto the road. Kairi hoped it would pop a tire, just because she felt like being a jerk at that moment. "That idiot-moron-loser Roxas! Why don't they just go off in their perfect blonde happiness and throw the perfect blonde wedding and have perfect blonde children?!"

She didn't know why them both being blonde bothered her so much. It just did.

She growled and grumbled to herself. Seeing Naminé always ticked her off, but seeing Roxas all flustered like that made her feel like snapping someone's neck. That face infuriated her to no end. Roxas _never_ blushed. Well, hardly ever. And nowadays he had that whole wobbly-kneed, starry-eyed look, like every other boy in the school when it came to the Ruling Queen of Destiny High.

She sighed. Her aggravation got to her more than anything. She couldn't wrap her head around it.

"I just didn't think Roxas would stoop to that level," she said, with a slightly consoling tone in her voice. That's right—Roxas deserved better. That was all that was wrong here.

But when she turned the corner, something very different met her gaze. And that very something met her right back with a welcoming smile.

"Hey, Kairi," Riku Allen greeted her with a twinkle in his eye. "How's everything?"

She felt her heart stop and her jaw drop open. Somehow Riku always had this effect on her.

"R-Riku?" she spluttered, completely forgetting his first question. "_You're _participating in the scavenger hunt too?"

"Of course! I get a perfectly legal opportunity to skip class, and you think I'd turn it down? No way!" He laughed as if her question had been ridiculous. But she honestly didn't think that someone as busy and, well, _popular _as Riku would come to this pathetic event. Even Kairi herself thought it was lame.

"W-Well, that's good then." Her mind went blank, and she realized she had nothing interesting to say.

"Of course it's good! It's great!" She looked up at him, confused. His energy was actually kind of creeping her out a little. Who knew the supposedly "cool and level-headed playboy" would be this ecstatic about something like a humdrum school activity? He noticed how skeptically she was looking at him and crossed his arms. "Kairi, haven't you ever heard the saying 'two heads are better than one'?"

"Well, yeah, but…" He couldn't possible be suggesting…?

"Come on then! Let's scavenge together!" He took her by the hand and dragged her along at his long-legged stride, which was most unfortunately the redhead's jogging pace. He looked behind him with a toothy grin. "My list first, okay?"

All she could do was nod and try not to look like she was _too_ winded.

**xXx**

Kairi couldn't help but smile. She doodled a small, mediocre Riku head grinning widely, with little rays of sunshine all around him. The few drawings she had in her diary always made her laugh at her lack of skill.

_I didn't even know what was in store for me. I couldn't even register what kind of emotion I was feeling. I felt kind of nauseous, but at the same time so light that I didn't even know if my feet were touching the ground or not. My hand felt hot, but my face was even hotter. And when we finally slowed our pace, we were still holding hands in this couple-y way, like we were on a date or something. And you know what? It didn't feel awkward._

_We went through Riku's list really quickly. (He had all this easy stuff, like assorted food.) When we were mostly through mine, I'd almost completely forgotten it was a school thing. It felt like two friends just hanging out. _

_But then Riku had to go to the bathroom. Just a minute or so after he excused himself and ran into the closest restaurant, I saw Roxas wandering around looking lost. Seeing him brought down my mood, but then I remembered that if he didn't collect all the items on his list, our whole group would be stuck writing some dumb essay. So I helped him out. I mean, friends are friends, right? But then I remembered that Riku would be looking around for me, so I quickly made my exit._

_And then…_

**xXx**

"A map of Destiny Islands' city centre," Kairi said, her face screwing up into a horrible pig-like expression. Who used _maps_ anymore? It was all GPSs and iPhones and stuff. Besides, the city centre wasn't much of a tourist site, so they didn't have many maps being sold.

"Don't make that face," Riku remarked, half-laughing and half-frowning somehow. "We'll find it, don't worry. Besides, it's the last thing on your list, right?"

She nodded, once again feeling confidence run through her body. Right! After that, the whole thing would be over!

She blinked at the sudden wave of disappointment that washed over her. "Over"—she and Riku would never have an opportunity like this again, she was sure. He was…and she was…She couldn't even think of any words to describe their relationship. She sighed as Riku gestured with his head of shiny silver hair towards some second-hand book shop. She didn't want this day to end. She didn't want to go home at all.

He literally dragged her inside. At the counter, some thin, ginger-haired woman with pointy-ended glasses was casually leaning against her elbow, flipping through one of the old books being sold in the store. The building smelled ancient, clearly emanating from yellowing paper. The whole store seemed to be covered in dust. Even the air around it seemed to be tinted with this kind of mist. Riku let out a deep, throaty cough as some got into his lungs. The woman looked up, but she didn't seem pleased or depressed—her mouth was a completely straight line, indicating no emotion whatsoever.

"Welcome. Feel free to take a look around." Then she went back to reading her book.

"Great customer service here," Riku whispered sarcastically into Kairi's ear, and she stifled a giggle with her hand.

"U-Um, excuse me," said Kairi, walking up towards the counter. The woman looked up from her book. This time her eyebrows twitched in slight irritation. "Do you have any maps?"

"Maps?" the woman replied, her speech abrupt, as if she didn't want to waste too much time on the word.

"Yes, as in, of the Destiny Islands city centre?"

"Up there, I believe." She pointed a long, crimson fingernail towards the top of one of the shelves, where some rolled up parchments—not very large and looking relatively new—were resting on top of each other. "They're of no use now that the tourists just visit the beaches. You can take one for free if you want." Then she seemed to dismiss them by resuming her book-reading. Riku and Kairi glanced at each other. Kairi shrugged and made her way over to the shelf. She reached up to grab one of the maps, but she wasn't quite tall enough. She stood on the very tips of her toes and reached out, letting out a series of grunts and frantic arm waves. Her fingers were only centimetres away from the paper. Just the smallest distance, but…!

She turned with a slightly exasperated sigh. "Well, looks like we'll have to get a stoo—" She let out a small gasp of surprise as she found herself looking into the collar of Riku's shirt. She suddenly realized she could feel his body heat and it made her go weak all over. She had a five second flashback to a certain night awhile back, and could feel a voice whisper in her ear,

"_If I could do that, imagine all the things Riku could do."_

She had a slight heart attack and grabbed onto the biggest, heaviest book she could find without turning around. She prepared herself to scream and launch an attack, when Riku reached his arm down and shoved a map in her face.

"Here," he said. And as Kairi peeled the diagram of Destiny Islands' city centre off her nose, she looked up at him, and could _feel_ the idiocy of her actions written all over her face. He loomed over her like a mountain, and had to bend down quite a bit so they could see eye-to-eye. "You didn't think I was going to try something, did you?"

Blood rushed to her face. Actually, it rushed practically everywhere. Her cheeks were neon scarlet and her eyes were wide with embarrassment. She quickly held the map over her face to temporarily disguise her God-I'm-so-stupid expression.

"Tsk," the silver-haired boy remarked, pushing down the map with his index finger. "You're smarter than you look." And before she had time to fully compute the comment, he leaned in and their lips came in contact. He kissed her softly, slowly, but very intense, as if hormonal passion could take over any second. Kairi didn't know what to do. But the best course of action didn't appeal to her right then. Her eyes fluttered closed, taking in the moment as best she could, and she could already feel Riku's hands running through her hair, but just as the situation was about to get really interesting (she was pretty certain, anyways), the woman at the counter woke up from her literary daze and chucked them out faster than you could say, "What the hell?"

Outside, Kairi and Riku exchanged looks of complete and utter shock. Well, Kairi looked at him in complete and utter shock. Riku just stared out into the distance, blinking and keeping a hand over his mouth, as if to block any other predators that may be trying to get at his lips. Somehow, standing there, it wasn't even like they had kissed each other—judging by their faces, one would assume they had both been victimized by other people. Awkwardness settled in. Kairi clacked her heels together, and tapped her fingers against her sides. A whole new flush settled on her cheeks—but it wasn't out of embarrassment this time. It was the colour Roxas became whenever he had gotten the rush of completing a dare.

**xXx**

_It was so weird, Diary. After that, we parted ways, but not before he told me, "We should go out sometime." It was the most bizarre, wonderful moment of my entire life. I still feel all tingly inside. (Of course, that may just be the meatloaf we ate for dinner tonight. I found something purple in it.)_

_I was late meeting Roxas, Sora, and Yuffie, and Roxas seemed kind of panicked…I think. I was kind of spacing out. It was a spacing out kind of moment, to be fair. Roxas avoided me for the rest of the day, so it was all right, I guess. I hate lying to him. I should face my fears and tell him someday! But that day won't be soon, probably._

_I can't believe I made out with Riku Allen!_

'_Night,_

_Kairi_

She closed her book with a huff. The uneasiness that had surrounded her slowly slid away, and she felt reborn. She glanced over at her Mickey Mouse alarm clock. It was, to say the least, adorable, with its bright red accents and its twistable Mickey arms, but it had the tendency to freeze up. Currently, it was still stuck on five twenty-six. She grabbed it and shook it. There was a rattling noise from the inside, causing Kairi to conclude it was broken. She put it back down with a sigh. She had gotten it for a birthday present from Uncle Axel a good many years ago. Everything her uncle gave her ended up being inoperable at some point.

Kairi got up, stretched, yawned, and lied down on her bed, trying her best to be tired. But she wasn't. She still had a little adrenaline in her veins from earlier, and for some reason her room suddenly felt very small and stuffy. She got up and opened the window, breathing in some of the crisp, autumn night air before lying back down again. Now her room was too cold for her liking, but she didn't want it to be uncomfortable either. She considered reading a book until she got sleepy, but she was twitching way too much to be able to concentrate for so long. She glanced over at her crappy second-hand computer, and wondered if some of her friends were online. But she didn't feel like fiddling with any electrical devices. She felt just plain agitated, like she had to move, go _do_ something.

She abruptly got out of bed and walked down the staircase, then back up again, then back down, then back up. Her legs got a tiny bit sore and tingly, but her brain was wide awake and her eyeballs felt like they would pop out of her head. What was with her? But she was far too hyper to consider the question seriously. She ran down the stairs, then around the main floor, then back up the stairs, then around the second floor, then back down, and finally paused at the refrigerator to look for something that might calm her frazzled nerves.

But she reached for the Coke anyway. She downed half a litre in about five seconds. She reacted instantaneously and shook her head back and forth, back and forth. She stuck out her tongue, and just as quickly reeled it back in. Then she jumped in a chair, leaned on it, and burst into this totally uncharacteristic grin. Her entire face glowed pink from all the energy buzzing around inside her.

"Riku," she said out loud for the first time that evening, and for some reason it felt very weird and embarrassing on her tongue, like it was inappropriate. She paused and blushed, immediately flustered, then chugged another three gulps of Coke.

"Kairi? What the hell are you doing?" Her moment of complete and utter peace with herself was broken by Roxas coming down the stairs. He was staring at her like she should be thrown in an asylum.

"Enjoying this perfectly fine Friday evening," she replied coolly, putting the Coke bottle to her lips. She didn't feel like getting mad at Roxas for breaking into her house, and she didn't question how either. Empty window plus climbable plumbing, not to mention the optional tree, equalled perfectly plausible illegal entering in her mind. At least, that's how she was thinking tonight. She held the almost empty Coke bottle to Roxas. "Coke?"

"Uh…no, thanks." He sat down in the chair beside her and looked her over, looking perfectly astonished. "You…okay?"

"Why, _yes_, I am. _Amazing_, actually. Or are you _insinuating_ something?" She knew how drunk she sounded. It made her burst into a choppy, uneven fit of giggles.

He scratched the back of his head. "What have you been doing? Drugs? Alcohol?" She laughed at the joke as if it was the funniest thing in the world. He stared. "I'm being serious."

"Drunk," she answered, finishing off the Coke bottle and tossing it at him with a dreamy "on _love_." He continued staring. When she finally processed what she had just said, she snapped out of her weird haze and got a little bit alarmed. But the caffeine took over once more and she felt the confidence to cover her shame. "Anyway, what are _you_ doing here? Breaking and entering again, I see? I'm going to call the police one of these days, you know." She leaned back in her chair, and nearly toppled over. She straightened up with an embarrassed blush. This time Roxas couldn't help laughing.

"Well, Miss Love Alcoholic, I am here for another dare—one that we failed to complete a few weeks ago. But you already seem to be a step ahead of me." He chuckled as she burped. Her face flushed again, so she quickly looked down and covered her mouth with her hand.

"Oh, and what's that?" she said after a few moments of bashfulness.

"Staying up all night," he remarked, "specifically at your house." Kairi's stomach churned at the memory of that certain dare. Her mouth opened and babbled nervously.

"Um…well…that's…y'know…I mean…last time…" She couldn't get her tongue to form complete sentences. He sent her a smile that made her feel all the more nervous.

"That was a fluke. Besides, I _won't_ fall asleep this time. I promise." She continued squirming awkwardly in her chair. "And…we won't go into any room that I can potentially fall asleep in." She looked at him with a trembling lip. He bit his tongue before slamming the table with his right hand. "Alright, alright! How about this? We'll go outside. I'll keep standing up the whole time. Cross my heart." He did the motion along with it. The childish action didn't match his appearance. It made he laugh slightly.

"Don't be ridiculous. Going outside at night, especially when our parents don't know! Don't you think that's…?"

"Stupid? Dangerous? Most definitely. But you'll be with me, and we'll go to the most populated places. Destiny Islands really comes alive at night." She sent him a how-do-you-know-that look, but he quickly grabbed onto her arm and pulled her out of her chair.

"But I'm in my pajamas—!"

"Shut up! No one will care!"

The autumn air immediately stung her face, but for once in her life she felt a little grateful for Roxas's antics. She followed behind like a loyal puppy. She needed something to do tonight.

**xXx**

Kairi looked around. The road, illuminated by streetlights, was crowded with teenagers and college kids, strolling around, drinks in hand, zooming by in cars. She couldn't help but be a little awed at everyone's wildness. Would _she _have the guts to do some of the things they were?

Just then a very tall, almost muscular woman slammed into her shoulder. Kairi could feel her muscles bend, and her face contort into something awful from the strike of sudden pain. She turned around and glared at the woman. The woman turned and glared right back. Her face was absolutely covered in makeup. She looked to be about thirty-five.

"Watch where you're going, brat!" she snapped. When Kairi clenched her teeth in anger, the woman threw her head back with an abrupt and quite terrifying cackle, and kind of stumbled away. Kairi could suddenly smell a distinct scent of smoke in the air, along with something else…

She felt a sharp, almost rough grab for her hand, and she looked up, startled, to find an almost angry expression on Roxas's face.

"You are _not_ to let go of my hand, understand?" Then he carted her off along the street until they reached a better lit, populated one that seemed safe. They glanced around to find a group of old fogies, clearly drunk, smiling at Kairi. Roxas protectively took a step in front of her. "Jesus. I shouldn't have you brought you out here." He actually sounded regretful. When she didn't respond, he snapped his fingers in front of her face. She jumped a little. "Hey, let's head back."

"Um…wait a sec…" Kairi murmured, and then, without really thinking, she pointed. Roxas turned warily in the direction she was pointing, and found himself squaring his jaw. A bunch of teenagers were sitting on top of and around a green Jeep-like van with hood. They had a cooler with suspicious-looking bottles that both teens new full well what it must be. And sitting on top of the hood, bottle in hand and mouth moving quickly and cheerily, was Riku Allen.

Roxas made a face then swore and turned away. "Ugh. Let's hurry." But Kairi didn't budge. He glanced back at her and said, "Kairi, please. It was a mistake to go out so late. I'm sorry for taking you with me. There's no reason to stay. Besides, Riku's probably already dr—"

"Rox_as_!" someone called out, and the voice dragged on the "as" part, as if to stretch the name to its very limits. A senior Kairi vaguely remembered from school came up from behind the blond, clapping him on the back so hard it echoed. Roxas turned around, distracted.

"Oh, Xigbar," he said, immediately falling into his traditional half smile—the one he always used at school. "Hey."

"Please, call me Xiggy." As the two boys blabbered on about literally nothing, Kairi looked back over at Riku's group of friends, only to find that he had disappeared. Disappointed and a little upset, she stomped her foot on the ground and sighed. What had she been hoping for, really though?

She suddenly felt a tap on her shoulder. She spun around defensively, just in case it was one of the drunk old men lying around, but she was met with two narrow, cyan eyes.

"Kairi," Riku said with a smile, "what a coincidence!"

"Oh, well, I'm just out with Roxas," she remarked with nervousness crawling up her spine. She kept glancing down towards his lips and looking back up with embarrassment plain on her face. She had kissed those. And she had the strong urge to do it again.

"Well, while you're here, why don't we go on our first date?" he asked, leaning closer in a suggestive manner. She gulped and looked back up shyly.

"Um…I would, but…" She gestured with her head towards Roxas, who was still chattering on with Xiggy. Riku chuckled and hit her forehead with his.

"Silly. He doesn't have to know."

**So, it's Christmas holidays! I'm pretty excited, man. I decorated a tree, and I went out for a strawberry tart, and I bought my best friend a Christmas present, and received one from a friend from school. My grandparents are over, and I got my hair cut and highlighted (bangs look so WEIRD), and I'm seriously in the holiday spirit. Like, seriously. I know you can't tell with this dramatic "launcher chapter", but seriously, guys! (I used "seriously" three times in the past two sentences.)**

**I'm so stoked! **

**Read and review!**

**Bye-bye!**


	15. An Emotional Dinner

**Disclaimer: I do not own Kingdom Hearts (II), Roxas, Kairi, Xigbar, etc.**

**Author's Note: You know, I am writing super fast for this writing contest I'm entering with **_**this**_** story (minus the names, of course) so it's driving me, um, INSANE. **

**Warning: Huh? What? Oh. Some hints at serious topics, such as sexual abuse.**

**Quick Author Babble: What? WHAT? I've GOT NO BABBLES ON ME, okay???**

Chapter 15: An Emotional Dinner

"The football team really isn't for me, Xiggy. I mean, I may be a little athletic, but seriously, I don't have enough time."

"But Rox_as_! You're so good! Coach offered you the captain position last time! Besides, less and less people have been showing up to our games! If you're there, then everyone'll come, dude!" Xigbar hopped up and down in excitement. Roxas shook his head.

"No thanks." He didn't like football all that much, anyway.

"Rox_as_!"

"I seriously can't! I'd just hold you back anyways. Isn't that right, Kairi?" He turned around to send an appealing smile over to the girl. But to his surprise, she wasn't there. "Eh? Kairi?" He looked around, his head flipping back and forth almost comically. Panic didn't quite settle in until about ten seconds later, when he was washed over with almost feverish symptoms of worry. He grabbed hold of Xigbar's sweatshirt and shook the boy back and forth, swearing and cursing. "Where's Kairi?! Did she go anywhere?! Did you see her?!"

Xigbar looked at him, clearly befuddled. "Who's Kairi?"

"DAMMIT!" he yelled, and his forceful push knocked over the older boy. Xigbar looked up, clearly bewildered, as Roxas started running down the sidewalk.

That girl was the biggest idiot _ever_. Officially. He shouldn't have allowed himself to get distracted. He should have known that, in her current state, she would've done something stupid. Why had he taken her out at this hour? Why, oh why, oh why, oh…

"Oi, you should seriously consider trying out for the team!" Xigbar's voice called from behind him. "You'd be a great addition, dude! Even Riku says so!"

Roxas screeched to a stop. "Riku?" he muttered under his breath. A horrible thought passed through his mind. He shook his blond head quickly. No, that's ridiculous. He was being irrational. Kairi would never do anything _that _dumb, no matter what mood she was in.

He clacked his tongue, and turned around to face the automobile where the group of teenage boys had been hanging around. He was being paranoid. Yeah…Riku was there…yes, definitely, just chatting with his friends…there was no way…

His blue orbs scanned every face, then again, and again, and again. Riku was not there. He had, undoubtedly, disappeared from the small clump.

Roxas stood there. His brain had registered all the information, but he was refusing to believe exactly what was happening. He bit his lip hard and fought the urge to punch something. He quickly ran over to the van.

"Roxas!" some of the boys cried out in friendly greeting. Others, on Riku's side of the battle, glared and shrank away.

"Hey," Roxas said, holding a hand up in acknowledgement. "Where's Riku?"

"Why d'you give a damn?" a tired-looking pale boy with long, greasy blonde hair asked, taking a deep breath from a cigarette.

"Shut up, Vexen," friendly ol' Wakka said, then turned and smiled brightly at Roxas. He had a thick, Jamaican accent, and Roxas struggled to follow along. "He left just a few minutes ago. Said something about going after a pretty bird. You catch my drift, ya?"

"Just fine," Roxas muttered, then continued through gritted teeth. "Did he say where?"

"Riku never gives his location," a darkly-dressed boy named Zexion remarked, "just in case we interrupt."

That comment caused Roxas's gag reflex to act up. He tried his best to nod cheerily, even though his face was turning blue. "I see."

"Want a beer?" Wakka offered, holding out a green-tinted glass bottle.

Roxas shook his head graciously. "No thanks." For whatever reason, he didn't like the taste of alcohol, no matter how many times he tried it. "I really have to go. 'Night."

"Hic! Goodniiight!" sang out Demyx, a chirpy boy with a blond buzz cut. He was lying on the pavement, and his face looked red in the dim light. He swung his bottle in the air.

"Low alcohol tolerance," Zexion explained. He looked slightly amused.

Vexen shook his head, releasing a puff of dark smoke that quickly melded into the air. "Weak bastard."

Roxas feigned laughter even though his stomach was churning terribly and all that was passing through his head were swear words. He stepped away with a wave and ran for it. Every stride weighed him down, like he was melding into the pavement. He kept biting at the inside of his mouth, making painful sores in his cheeks, but he couldn't help it. He was nauseous and terrified and miserable all at the same time. His mind was racing, but everything around him was eerily still, and each time an idea came to mind, he lost his concentration, and he had to think of it all over again. The feeling was by far the worst thing he had ever experienced.

**xXx**

He didn't know how long, how far he had run or how many places he had checked before his lungs finally started burning. He paused and swung around a streetlamp, panting and keeping himself from falling over.

"It…" he gasped between wheezes, "it's impossible. It's really…impossible."

He hated that word more than anything. He hated it even more now. He wished he'd killed Riku years ago. He wished he hadn't forgotten his cell phone at home. He wished Kairi would appear before him. He wished…he really…

Roxas leaned his head against the pole, feeling fatigue settle in. He closed his eyes in a moment of weakness, then quickly shook himself awake. He needed to find her and punch the lights out of Riku. He doubted he could do much damage in this state, though. Maybe if he aimed for the face…

He stopped his thoughts before they could get too far. Was this really the time to be thinking about that? But everything was getting really fuzzy and nothing seemed to be rational anymore. A light film seemed to go over his eyes and make them get all watery. He wiped at them and sniffled. Now he was catching a cold, it seemed.

He sat down on the curb and glared out in to the distance, constantly wiping at his eyes with his sleeves.

"Dammit," he whispered.

**xXx**

When the sun started to peek over the horizon, it started to dawn on Roxas that he should probably head back. After all, he had been stumbling around town all night long, looking for Kairi in vain. He couldn't believe that Kairi had been out with Riku since midnight. He felt so sick. He wanted to die and take Riku with him.

He stumbled in the direction of Kairi's house. He must go tell Miss Thomas. That was the best course of action.

He was going to get into _so_ much trouble. But there was no other way.

**xXx**

After procrastinating on this act for a while, he decided he had to deal with it. Standing in front of the door, Roxas's resolve began to wear thin. He knew that Miss Thomas would be furious with him, then she would break into wracking sobs, and then call the police, too hysterical to speak properly. Miss Thomas was almost as dramatic as her daughter when it came to Roxas's stupidity.

And then his thoughts turned to Kairi, and he could no longer stand there doing nothing, so he rang the doorbell. Roxas rarely entered the house this way, and the sound that echoed in his ears made him consider jumping into the bushes. But he shook his head fervently and braced himself. He had to face this. He must—

_Bang!_

"Oh, Roxas! Thank goodness!" The door slammed open and the next thing he knew, he was bowled over by a thirty-eight year old woman.

"Ugh! Miss Thomas?" he said, trying to get a good look at his best friend's mother.

"Oh, Roxas, something awful has happened to Kairi! She—"

"She's not back yet, I know!" Roxas shouted, and Miss Thomas recoiled. He felt a mixture of fright and nervousness running through his veins. He clenched his hands into fists. "It's all my fault! You see, I took her out late and—"

"What are you saying, you foolish young teen?" she snapped, pulling at one of his blond spikes. He winced. "Kairi's in her room, and she's refusing to come out! What's all this about taking her out late?"

Roxas stared. "She's back?"

"Yes."

"In her room?"

"Yes."

"Safe and sound?"

"Yes, yes, and yes again! She's in her room, perfectly fine, besides the fact that she's _locked herself in_!"

Roxas pulled at his shirt collar, and glanced into the house. "Locked herself in?" Miss Thomas nodded and crossed her arms.

"What did you do to her last night, Roxas? Didn't I say I trusted you? Did you…go…behind…my back?" she said, slapping him on the head with each word.

"No, I didn't! I just…it was…can I see her please?" he asked, and this time he must've sounded pretty desperate, because Miss Thomas crossed her arms, pursed her lips and moved a little to the side. Roxas ambled in past her.

"Good luck with that. She's not letting anyone see her, not even Axel, and you know how fond she is of him for God knows what reason."

Roxas nodded and brushed past her, walking up the staircase, feeling his stomach churn anxiously. What could he possibly say? Now that he was actually in the situation, he realized that he hadn't thought anything over. But he couldn't turn back now. What had Riku done that got Kairi so upset? His curiosity overrode his worries.

He knocked on the white door separating him from Kairi. There was silence for a little while, so then he knocked again.

"Go aw_ay_!" someone moaned from inside, and Roxas felt his throat constrict. He put his ear up to the door.

"Kairi? It's Roxas!" he cried a little too excitedly. He could practically sense Kairi shrinking back.

"Go home!" she shouted.

"What're you—?" he stopped himself because it was a pointless thing to ask. "Kairi, what happened last night?! You went off with Riku, didn't you?!" There was a long moment of silence. Roxas banged on the door. "HEY! DON'T IGNORE ME!"

The door slammed open to reveal a messy-haired, pyjama-donned Kairi. "STOP SHOUTING, MORON!" The next second, the door had slammed in his face again.

Roxas stood there for a moment, before feeling irritation swell up in his chest. He threw himself at the door. "KAIRI! OPEN THIS DOOR!"

"NO!"

"I SAID, OPEN—!" The door threw open and he found himself lying on the floor. Kairi kicked him over to his side. Her eyes were red, and had dark circles under them. She looked tired and much older than yesterday.

"Go away. Now," she said slowly, her voice nothing but a mere hiss. He gulped and pulled himself off the floor, and when Kairi glared at him, he quickly sized himself up to his full height to be a little more intimidating.

"Hey, what'd he do?" he asked, reaching out a hand, although he wasn't quite sure why. Kairi immediately pulled away. Roxas felt something peculiar going through his brain. He was pretty sure it was insanity. "What did Riku do to you?"

"You! Cut it…cut it out!" She sounded aggravated with him, as if he did this all the time. Her voice wavered, even though she didn't want it to.

"Kairi." He neared her, and leaned in. She closed her eyes tightly, balling up her hands into fists and blocking the lower half of her face. "Did he touch you?"

Roxas could feel a jab at his stomach. Kairi had swung her hands out to keep him away. He felt irritated, but also oddly amused. He could feel a smirk grow on his face.

"I see." Though he didn't fully understand yet, the back of his mind was spinning.

"What are you saying?! Just leave me alone! Why do you always have to follow me around?!" With a huff, she turned away from him and busily started cleaning her room. Roxas watched her for a second, but then something more interesting caught his eye. "Honestly, you can just go now! I don't even care how long you stay! I'm just going to ignore…! Roxas?"

She turned, confused by his sudden silence, to find him holding up her horribly ragged pyjama top. The originally cheerfully rose-colored top was now muddy and torn from last night. Roxas's gaze refused to leave it, and he ran a finger down a frayed edge.

"You wore this when we went out yesterday," he remarked, almost coolly, but there was something very scary about the atmosphere surrounding him. There was no reply, and when he looked up, her face was scrunched up in horror, her eyes brimming with unshed tears. He clenched his teeth together but didn't hold himself back from saying, "Why are there three buttons missing?"

Kairi stumbled back, at a complete loss for words, then, almost too suddenly, burst into tears. At first Roxas didn't do anything but stare, the mottled pyjama shirt clenched in his hand, but after awhile he could no longer take staring at Kairi's face getting more splotchy and wet as time wore on.

"Kairi…" He walked over to her and bent down a little to try to look into her eyes. Despite feeling bad, he didn't quite know what to do.

She shifted away from him and bent her head down lower, wiping her nose with her forearm. "I…IDIOT!" With surprising force, she pushed him away and ran out of the room.

"Dammit! KAIRI!" he shouted after her as she ran down the stairs and out of the house. He amazed himself with how furious he was. He kicked the door and threw the shirt across the room, hearing it hit the opposite wall with a loud, satisfying bang. He breathed out ferociously and ran a hand through his hair. The next thing he knew, Axel was at the door.

"Hey! Roxas! What was that?" The spiky redhead flipped his head back and forth around the room, as if looking for some sort of clue. "Where's Ri-Ri?" He looked up at the enraged blond and wiggled his eyebrows. "Did you do something naughty again?"

Roxas flung himself at Axel, taking hold of his collar. "I'M SO BLOODY PISSED OFF!"

"Whoa," Axel said, a little too calmly to suit Roxas's taste. "Indeed you are." Roxas felt a headache coming on. The Thomas family was just too screwed up.

"Why am I even talking to you?" he mumbled, releasing the older man and kicking at the desk chair. He had the overwhelming urge to beat somebody up. He restlessly started pulling at his own hair. "I have to go find Kairi." He thought things over. "And Riku." He rubbed at his chin. "And Sora and Yuffie."

He realized that was a lot of people to find. But who first? He sighed and scratched at the back of his head. Suddenly he felt a pull at his shoulders, and Axel twisted him around.

"You know what I do when I'm pissed off?" Axel said brightly, sticking his index finger into the air as if making a point.

Roxas frowned. "You haven't been listening at all, have you?" Axel continued to ignore him.

"I cook!"

**xXx**

Roxas found himself chopping carrots in the modest kitchen downstairs. Axel stood beside him, peeling lettuce while whistling a happy tune. On his other side, Miss Thomas kept bartering him with questions like, "What happened?", "What did you say to her?" and things of the like.

An overwhelming sense of annoyance was surrounding Roxas. He wanted to leave, kill Riku, find Kairi, and tell Sora and Yuffie everything. But now he was just stuck here doing kitchen work.

"WHAT THE HELL IS THIS???" Roxas shouted at Axel. He was tempted to throw his knife at the young adult's unsuspecting back.

"A dare is a dare, Roxas," Axel replied in a singsong voice. "You said you'd help me make a _delectable _dinner, so here you are." Roxas frowned and went back to his slaughtering of vegetables. When he looked at it that way, there was something strangely pleasurable in the chore. "You know, I think that if you went out and did what you wanted, you'd end up regretting it."

"I don't know if I agree with that," Roxas muttered, watching a carrot piece go flying.

"Now, Roxas, in this violent mood you're in, how could you possibly accomplish anything?" Miss Thomas added. "Perhaps Axel's right." Axel put on a gloating face. The fiery woman frowned at him. "For once."

Roxas shifted from one foot to the other before looking down at the cutting board and refusing to face them.

"Roxas," Miss Thomas pressed on, and Roxas could immediately tell what she was going to say next, "what happened to Kairi?"

He pushed inedible bits of carrot into the garbage. "I don't know."

"What did she do last night?"

He passed the carrot pieces over to Axel and started peeling an onion. The acid made his eyes burn. "I don't know."

"Is she injured anywhere?"

"I don't know, I don't know, _I don't know_!" Axel jumped back a little with a small "oh my" and Miss Thomas admonished him in slight shock. Roxas slammed the onion down, causing slightly green juices to cover the cutting board. "Do you think if I knew I would be standing here doing nothing?!"

Silence fell over the kitchen. Even Axel had stopped humming. Roxas felt a little guilty for losing it, but what could he do? He was just too frustrated!

"Sorry," Miss Thomas apologized quietly. "I shouldn't have pestered you." Axel nudged Roxas with his elbow, so the blond mumbled a quick "it's fine", and then the two males went back to work, Axel striking up a tune all over again.

**xXx**

A delightful smell was wafting through the entire house. Roxas had a tingly feeling in him like he was a kid again, and his brain relaxed considerably from a few minutes ago. Kairi Thomas only returned as he was halfway through setting the table, wondering if he should give her a seating or not.

"_Kairi!_" An overly enthused Miss Thomas threw herself at her daughter, even more forcefully than she had with Roxas. Roxas would've laughed if he hadn't known that the situation would become dramatic in a few seconds. "Where have you been? You know that no matter what troubles you have, you can tell Mommy, right?"

"Yes, Mom, I know." There was a pause, and Roxas peeked to the side of the wall to get a better look at the redhead. She had a dreamy look in her eyes, and her nose was pointed upward. "What's that smell?"

"Dinner," Miss Thomas replied. "A big, fancy one!"

"But it's only lunch time," Kairi replied, and Roxas had to cover his mouth so he wouldn't snicker at the girl's once again obvious sense of properness.

"Oh, dearest, this lunch is so big that you won't even be able to _think_ of eating by supper time!" Miss Thomas exclaimed. "I mean, Uncle Axel and Roxas worked for two hours straight—"

"Roxas?"

Kairi looked over immediately, and her and Roxas's eyes met. The next moment, she had stormed over to the blond boy and pointed an angry index finger at him.

"Why are you still here?! Didn't I tell you to leave?!" She was angry, and it was clear in her face.

"Yes, but…You see, um…"

"Roxas had to stay here because of a little dare I gave him," Axel said coolly, striding up and putting an arm around the teenage boy. "I knew you wouldn't mind, right, Ri-Ri?"

She stared good and long at the duo before huffing angrily and pushing past Roxas to get into the kitchen, but not before her best friend could whisper in her ear,

"You can tell me when you're ready."

The redhead glanced back, but only for a second before storming into the kitchen and giving herself a _big_ helping of seasoned chicken.

**I wish **_**I **_**had some seasoned chicken right now. All we've got in the house is chocolate and chips. I'm getting really fat really quickly. At least, that's what it feels like. **

**I'm **_**so**_** tired. Christmas break ends so early this year!**

**Read and review!**

**Bye!**


	16. Winter Masquerade

**Disclaimer: I do not own Kingdom Hearts (II), Roxas, Kairi, Naminé, etc.**

**Author's Note: Happy holidays! In honour of this occasion, I've written a special Christmas chapter! Yay! **

**Warning: More hints at sexual abuse. **

**Quick Author Babble: I got Kingdom Hearts 358/2 Days for Christmas. Surprisingly…I don't really want it. (Maybe I DO like Sora better!) **

Chapter 16: Winter Masquerade

"_C'mon, Kairi, don't be such a baby…"_

The voice hissed for a few seconds in her ear before fading, then quickly being replaced by,

"_Don't you realize how lucky you are?" _

Kairi felt her back hit the floor as she tumbled out of bed with a muffled scream. When she opened her eyes and shook off her fright that had enveloped her in her sleep, she realized that it had been a nightmare.

The same nightmare that troubled her _way_ too often.

No matter where she looked, she always seemed to see Riku. It wasn't the mushy romantic type of "no matter where I look, his love surrounds me"; it was more like "oh, crap, he's stalking me again!"

Two months had passed since that fateful day that had changed Kairi's way of thinking forever. She shakily got back onto her bed and stuffed her face in her pillow. There was no way she would ever be the same again. She and Roxas never stayed too close to each other anymore. She never told him what had happened that night eight weeks ago, and he, in turn, didn't ask her about it. It didn't annoy her as much as she thought it would. Nothing really mattered anymore. The supposed love of her life ended up being a pervert, Sora and Yuffie had suddenly disappeared, and Uncle Axel had packed up and gone home…well, supposedly. (They'd called his house at least a hundred times to check up on him but he was never there, not even at dinner time or early morning.) It would only make sense if her best friend wasn't around so much anymore.

She thought about Riku. The name alone made her shiver. And when she thought about Roxas, she felt really cold, as if someone had dumped a tray of ice cubes down her shirt. Behold, the boys that made her life hell!

But, she had to admit—life was really boring without them. Yes, Riku scared the living wits out of her now, but that cheerful feeling of being in love was, admittedly, awesome. And Roxas had always come up with _something_ for them to do, dangerous or not.

She thought about this for awhile, and then remembered she should get Roxas a Christmas present, like she did every year. It was almost tradition; Kairi would make or buy a really meaningful, wonderful present, and Roxas would always forget. But it was okay, because he would always have something planned for the day.

She rolled over with a small smile on her face. She would never be able to tell Roxas all her secrets, but she still loved sharing with him all the same.

**xXx**

"What would you like for Christmas, Roxas?" Kairi asked as a conversation starter the next morning as he strode up to his locker and gave her a smile and a "hey".

"How uncharacteristic of you to ask," he remarked with a smirk. She puffed out her cheeks and turned away from him.

"Nothing? Okay then, saves me some trouble." She felt a little irritated that their conversation had failed so miserably. Roxas grabbed onto her shoulder and turned her to face him. He was laughing—Kairi had to give credit—quite adorably, and a few ninth grade girls walking by couldn't help but stop and blush.

"Hey, don't be like that," he said, tweaking her nose. She frowned. "Hmm…what _do_ I want for Christmas?" He rubbed his chin thoughtfully and nestled a couple of binders in his arms. "That's a toughie."

"How rare! Usually you have a list made by Thanksgiving," she countered, not able to keep the sarcasm from getting into her tone.

"Well, this year things have been a little different. The list of dares, you know." He waited for Kairi to pick up her books and they went forward down the hall. "What do you want, Kai?"

"What's the point? You always forget in the end." She tried to sound as gentle as possible.

"I'm determined to remember this year!" he exclaimed, leaping into the air, acting far too childish for his appearance. "So, what do you want? Something to wake you up in the morning, maybe?"

Kairi stood back a little, befuddled. "Huh?"

"You know, you have _huge _dark circles under your eyes. Are you a raccoon or a human being?"

The comment stung actually quite horribly, but she tried her best to deal with it.

"I haven't been sleeping well," she muttered through gritted teeth.

"Why not?"

"I don't know."

She suddenly felt like she should get away from him as quickly as possible. She turned to make it look like she was going to the washroom, but Roxas grabbed hold of her wrist and anchored her to her spot.

"Nightmares?" he asked, and there was something almost venomous in his voice. Kairi was reluctant to speak at the accuracy of his guess.

"What's it to you?" she finally spat. His hand squeezed tighter around her wrist.

"Riku?" This time he sounded so scary she was under the impression that if she turned around, he would've transformed into Godzilla.

"Th…That's too much!" She yanked out of his grasp after a short struggle before glowering at him. "Who said this has anything to do with Riku?!"

Roxas relinquished a heavy sigh and ran an aggravated hand through his hair. The action threw off Kairi a little. He suddenly looked so much older, and when he looked back at her, he opened his mouth as if to say something very serious, but when he glanced over her alarmed expression, he shut it again. His wandering eyes then met and widened at something interesting.

"My Christmas present!" he shouted, and it startled Kairi so much that she had to take a step back. He pointed behind her, and she turned around to see a poster for the winter dance. In big, fancy white letters, it read "Winter Masquerade!" Kairi stared. She didn't understand.

"I don't get it," she said flatly. He lassoed her in with his left arm, apparently forgetting about the potential fight that had existed just a few seconds ago.

"Be my date to the Winter Masquerade," he announced, smiling craftily at her. She stared.

"Wait, what? But, that's—"

"That's all I want for Christmas." He leaned in and ruffled her hair affectionately. She was far too caught up with the suggestion before that to notice. The five-minute bell rang, and he looked up. "Oh, looks like I'd better head off to class." He let go of her and went off. Kairi stared after him.

"Roxas—!" Kairi shouted after him, but a throng of students pushed her back down the hallway. "But that's _insane_!" she cried out in vain as Roxas disappeared from sight.

**xXx**

When Kairi entered second period science class, Roxas was chatting with the boys behind him. Kairi reluctantly put her bag on the floor and sat down at her seat. A few seconds later, the bell rang. The chatting ceased somewhat and Roxas, who had originally been sitting on top of his desk, now slid into his chair. Professor DiZ walked in and immediately started chattering recapping about positive and negative charges in an electric circuit, which was, unfortunately, Kairi's worst subject in science. She tried to listen, but she was distinctly aware of Roxas's presence behind her. She didn't know for sure, but she could _feel_ his gaze on her back, and it made her feel awkward and embarrassed.

After a few minutes, Kairi could no longer take it. She subtly leaned back in her seat and whispered, "What are you thinking?"

She got her reply a few seconds later. "About what?"

"The winter dance thing, obviously!"

She could hear Roxas shift in his seat, and suddenly his voice was right in her ear.

"What's so surprising about it? You _never _go out anymore, Kairi. Besides, doesn't it sound fun? A masquerade."

"You're kidding, right? I thought you said school events were lame!"

"Dances don't count!" Roxas said a little too loudly, and soon Professor DiZ's voice had drowned out both of their whispers.

"Bargaining for another detention, are you, Roxas?" he barked in that deep, throaty voice of his that froze most students.

"No, professor," Roxas mumbled, but he sounded more bored than apologetic. Professor DiZ gave him a hard look before turning back to the rest of the class. Roxas waited a few minutes before leaning over once again.

"Come. Please. You'll have fun." And that was that.

**xXx**

Kairi bit her lip as she listened impatiently to the ring of the phone on the other end. She tapped her foot on the cold, frosty sidewalk.

"C'mon, Yuffie, answer!" she begged, but as soon as the words escaped her mouth, the answering machine came on: _"You better know what to do, 'cause I'm not explaining it! Beep!" _Kairi sighed in aggravation and pressed the END button. What was she expecting, really? Yuffie hadn't picked up her cell phone in weeks. Who was she going to go shopping with now? She had no fashion sense at all!

Well, there was still someone she could turn to.

**xXx**

"Oh, Kairi! This would look _adorable_ on you!" Miss Thomas held up a bright pink floral dress.

"_Mom!_" Kairi whined as she felt all the eyes in the store turn to her. "You're embarrassing me!"

"Oh, jeez, can't you take a joke?" Mrs. Thomas sighed, chucking Pinky Ugly at Kairi. "I always hoped that I would have a fun teenage daughter…Well, I suppose out the window with that idea."

Kairi gritted her teeth. "Who could afford to be fun when they have a mother like _you_? Somebody's got to take responsibility in this family!"

Mrs. Thomas feigned a heart attack before once again burying her head in a rack of dresses.

"Those are too expensive, Mom," Kairi felt the need to point out.

"Kairi, as a female, you must learn to _indulge_ yourself once in awhile," Miss Thomas commented, her voice muffled by the articles of clothing pressing in on her face. "I make more than enough money, and I spent most of it on myself… I can't even teach my teenage daughter the magical ways of shopping! I'm such a guilty mother!"

Kairi grumbled something, and Miss Thomas's voice drifted up through the clothes ring once again.

"A masquerade, is it?"

"Yes, Mom. A lame, horrible, dumb masquerade."

"Why are you always such a pessimist? You're going with Roxas, aren't you?"

Silence. Kairi hid her face. She wished she hadn't told her mom that tiny fact.

"A date with Roxas," Miss Thomas sighed. "What to say? I suppose I always knew this day would come. But really, it feels like only yesterday you were two six-year-olds chasing each other around the backyard!"

She sighed nostalgically. Kairi hid her face from onlookers.

"It's not a date, Mom," she hissed, not allowing her thoughts to lead her to the fact that those had been Roxas's exact words. "It's just…just two friends hanging out at a dance!"

"Uh huh, sure. Whatever." Miss Thomas's voice was dull, as if she didn't care what her daughter claimed. "Ah, here it is! How lovely!"

She pulled out a bright turquoise, pink and green splotched number. It was actually quite pretty, but Kairi found herself backing away from it.

"It's too short," she said.

"It'll go to your knees."

"Mom, it…it's strapless!"

"Darling, see this? It's called 'elastic'. It'll stretch to fit your form."

"It's form-fitting!"

"God, girl, what do you want to wear? A potato sack? Go try it on! Go! Go!" Miss Thomas pushed Kairi into the changing rooms, shoving the dress in with her.

"But this dress is—!" Kairi tried to object, but her mother cut across her.

"A handsome boy like Roxas deserves a pretty girl like you at her best," she stated simply, and after that Kairi didn't know what else to say, so she stood in the changing room for a few seconds just to blush.

Kairi awkwardly pulled the dress up and looked at herself in the mirror. She tried to pull the hem down lower, but then more of her chest showed; when she pulled the top up, more of her legs showed. It was a modern-day tragedy.

"Kairi! Get out here! We still have to discuss your mask!" her mother huffed impatiently from the other side.

Kairi closed her eyes tight and exited with her best Mom-why-did-you-do-this-to-me angst look, only to be showered with praise.

**xXx**

The night of Doomsday, Kairi was trying to sort out her dress-fitting problem. She tried to convince her mother to switch her dress with another one—preferably something with straps and went past her knees—to no avail. Miss Thomas _insisted_ that she must wear this dress to the dance. When Kairi refused, Miss Thomas said she would pay for no other outfit, so the redhead was forced to give in.

The girl fixed her mask—a simple black eye cover with gold accents—on the bridge of her nose and applied a thin layer of lip gloss before stepping back to get the whole of her outfit. She looked like any other masquerade-going teenage girl, except, she couldn't help feeling, a kind of slutty one.

"Way to pick 'em, Mom," she muttered, pulling angrily at all sides of her dress, partly in frustration, and partly to attempt once more to fix the problem.

"Are you ready yet?" a voice called from outside. She recognized it as Roxas's and flew into a panic when she realized her dress top was hanging at an awkward position, just enough to show quite a bit of her strapless bra. She let out a shriek of horror and covered herself as best she could with one arm, and closed the curtains as quickly as possible with her other.

"NO! I'M NOT! I'M NOT!" she screeched. She heard a slight "crack", and she peeked through just a little to see Roxas's silhouette resting on a big tree branch nearest to her window, crouching down low and rubbing at his head.

"Okay. Jesus," he muttered, and she couldn't help but giggle at his predictable injury.

She went back to the mirror and straightened herself up. She ran her fingers through her now curled hair and breathed out slowly, closing her eyes. She was so nervous. Why was she so on edge? It was like any normal dance she and Roxas had gone to. It was the word "date" that had ruined everything. She knew the blond boy hadn't meant it in that way, but everyone else seemed to be teasing her for it!

As she robotically made her way towards the curtains, she felt her heart pounding in her chest a mile a minute. She took another deep breath before slowly pushing the milky white curtains aside.

"I'm good now," she called out, and suddenly there was a glittery face right in front of her, but she couldn't quite make out the details.

"Great. Now move aside."

Kairi looked at him in confusion. "Aren't I climbing down the tree?"

"What kind of date would I be if I let a lady go out through a window in formal attire? Besides, you're wearing a dress aren't you? What if someone, you know, _saw _you coming down? You'd hate me forever." He chuckled. Her face turned bright pink, and she hoped her mask would cover most of it. She hadn't thought of that.

"D-Don't joke around about that," she said as she swished to the side to allow him in. "And don't say you're my date either."

Roxas lightly pulled himself into her room, and landed sleekly on her carpet. "You're so sensitive," he sighed. He looked up at her, and she was startled by the mask he was wearing. It was a vibrant red, with intricate gold designs running through it. It covered not only the eye section but the nose as well and most of the forehead. More surprisingly, however, was the fact that he had a great plume of crimson and white feathers that rose higher than his spiky blond hair.

She covered her mouth with her hand to giggle. "Your mask really suits you," she said. When no reply was given, she examined his face more closely to find that his mask was not the only thing that was red. She looked down and suddenly realized exactly what had frozen the conversation. She covered her top half, knowing all too well that her legs were showing. "D-Don't stare! You know I hate wearing dresses!"

Roxas whistled. "Is _that _what you call a dress these days?" This did not help the situation. She slapped him on the wrist, pulled her mask down lower so it was cover more of her cheeks, and left the room with nothing more than "hurry up".

**xXx**

The school gymnasium was unsurprisingly full with swaying, sparkly, masked bodies. There were Christmas lights hanging from the ceiling, along with a flashing disco ball and tacky snowflake stickers. There was a DJ on the stage—the school never bothered to hire a live band—and he was currently playing a song that Kairi didn't recognize nor appreciate. She looked around for a familiar face, but of course there was none—everyone wore masks and the lights kept flashing, making it nearly impossible to tell who was who. Some tall girl accidentally bumped into Kairi while she was dancing.

"Oh, sorry," she said with about as much sympathy in her voice as a hunter who had just shot a deer before turning back to her friends. Kairi gave her best this-is-going-to-be-the-worst-night-ever sigh, but Roxas didn't fall for it.

"Smile, will you?" he remarked—well, yelled so he could be heard over the music—elbowing her in her side.

"What's the point? Can you even tell? I'm practically blind, this room is so crowded!" she whined.

"WHAT?" was Roxas's reply, so she just huffed in aggravation and shoved her way towards the snack table, the only worthwhile thing in this entire event.

As she literally stuffed a doughnut in her face, Roxas somehow managed to make a trail and locate her.

"You know, if you keep eating like that, you won't be able to fit into that dress anymore," he joked, tugging lightly at the back of the turquoise embarrassment. Considering it was already too low for Kairi's taste, she pulled away roughly.

"Shut up," she mumbled through the pastry in her mouth, spraying crumbs not so ladylike everywhere. She took a big swallow and looked back at him, licking the remaining glaze off her fingers. "It won't be too long before your fan club finds you, y'know."

"Ah, this is the use of a masquerade," he replied, tapping his overly feathered mask. "No one will be able to recognize me, guaranteed." He leaned down a little to look into her barely showing eyes. "Now, my well-fed lady, do you care to dan—"

"_Roxas!_" A swift body hurtled towards them through the crowd, and suddenly a pink wearing girl was pulling the blond boy's arm. Roxas nearly fell backwards from the unexpected force, but eventually found his footing and turned around. Kairi peered to the side of him, and found herself suppressing the desire to giggle. That girl was wearing the exact same dress she and her mom had treated as a joke the other day.

"Wh-who are you?" Roxas gasped, only momentarily stunned. Kairi couldn't tell either, but she realized that now she was on the verge of bursting out into laughter. This person's mask was white as far as she could tell, and, unmistakably, in the shape of a butterfly.

"Can't you recognize me?" whined Butterfly Face in a high-pitched voice. And suddenly Kairi figured out who it was. That voice! It belonged to…

"Naminé?!" she cried out before being able to control herself. Naminé looked over Roxas's shoulder at the other girl.

"Who are you?" she asked almost disdainfully. Thrown off by the question, Kairi nearly didn't catch on to the real meaning of the question. She wanted her title, not her name, and the redhead really had no idea.

"I…I'm, uh…Roxas's fr—"

"Date. She's my date," Roxas cut across her suddenly. Kairi's face burned bright red, and she was suddenly grateful for the crappy lighting.

"Roxas!" she hissed. "Didn't I tell you not to say things like that?!" But, unfortunately for her, no one heard her over the deafening rhythm emanating from the far too big speakers.

"Is that so?" the blonde girl remarked, then pulled off the half-smile that Roxas always seemed to wear. "How nice. I do hope that you'll dance with me sometime tonight, Roxas."

"Uh…" Kairi peered up at him and noticed that Roxas was covering his mouth while talking. Strange. "Yeah, maybe." Naminé smiled and was just about to leave when Kairi stepped forward.

"Wait!" she shouted, and both teenagers looked surprised. "How did you recognize this guy?" She jabbed Roxas in the shoulder with her index finger.

"Well, obviously only Roxas could be handsome from all sides," she purred, and that snake hiss sound entered her voice again. Then she was swallowed up by the crowd.

Roxas let out an embarrassed cough and scratched the back of his head. Kairi felt this bubbling feeling in her stomach, and felt it work its way up her throat. For awhile, she stood there, shaking and cheeks bulging, but the laughter was no longer possible to suppress. She keeled over, using the snack table for support, and guffawed so loudly and excitably that she was surprised no one took any notice.

"It…IT'S NOT FUNNY!" Roxas shouted, so embarrassed that he felt like he was on fire.

"It-it's so…s-so bloody hilarious!" she gasped, before continuing with her laughing fit. "The dress…the m-mask…and then the…" She had a slight convulsion. "The _pass_!"

Roxas angrily grabbed her arm and pulled her off the table, throwing her right out of her crack up. He pulled her close to him.

"Hey, you," he said, sounding slightly irritated, "forget Naminé. She's got nothing to do with us."

"Oh, really? She sounds like she has something to do with you!" Kairi giggled, then sat up in realization. "Oh, that sounded dirty." She started laughing again.

Roxas clenched his teeth and pulled her away from the snack table and onto the dance floor.

"What…what are we—?" she began to inquire, but Roxas suddenly pulled her right into his arms, startling her so much she considered launching an attack.

"We're going to dance, of course," he replied smoothly.

And for the first time that night, a slow song played.

**Oh. My. Goodness. FLUFF!!! Just for the end, though. This dare (?) will be continued in the next chapter! **

**Thanks a lot for your reviews! I hope you guys have had the best of the holidays! **

**Merry Christmas/Happy Hanukkah/Happy Kwanza! **

**Read and review!**

**Godspeed! **


	17. Punch Out!

**Disclaimer: I do not own Kingdom Hearts (II), Roxas, Kairi, Riku, etc.**

**Author's Note: Next chapter's the last! FINALLY! Whoa, I'm, like, super tired. I have to finish the next chapter, then the epilogue, then edit…oh jeez, I'm never going to make it on time. **

**Warning: Mature content.**

**Quick Author Babble: Um, this whole chapter was a babble, really.**

Chapter 17: Punch Out!

_What is this?_

Roxas blinked a few times and looked into Kairi's eyes through her mask. They were wide, with shock or horror he couldn't tell. She was really close. Freakishly close. But it was fully his responsibility of their current physical contact.

_No, seriously. What am I doing?_

He thought about Riku and grinded his teeth angrily. Looking at Kairi's pale complexion and tired eyes—she was like this all the time now—he blamed it all on the silver-haired boy. The fact that she couldn't take being touched or complimented because of him pissed Roxas off beyond belief. He hated Riku. And that was that. But he worried about Kairi. He wanted her to get back to normal, and quickly.

Kairi's head was down. She was looking anywhere but him. She avoided him all the time now, completely on purpose. He spent two months giving her as much space as possible to make her feel comfortable, but it seemed that no matter what he did now, she just wanted to get away from him.

That also, unsurprisingly, pissed him off.

"Kairi," he said. She looked up at him, her eyes widening, if possible, even more. He didn't quite now why he'd said it. He just wanted her to look at him. He took hold of her waist, and that made her face turn red and quickly look back down. It didn't take much to make Kairi blush. But, admittedly, that had always been the case. He tried his best to smile at her and they started swaying, kind of awkwardly, to the music. "Cheer up a bit, will you?"

"I was perfectly happy by the snack table," she retorted, and he laughed.

"You know, I didn't want to say anything, Kairi, but…" He leaned in as if to tell her a big secret. "You've been packing on the pounds lately."

"WHAT?!" She jumped back, looking absolutely horrified. Roxas laughed.

"Kidding!" he admitted with a toothy grin on his face. She kicked him, absolutely fuming.

"Why'd you say that?!"

"Just trying to get a reaction out of you," he chortled. "I'm good, huh?" She glanced up at him, her cheeks puffing out in annoyance. He laughed again. "What's with that face?"

"I hate you! Really!" She stomped her foot down and sighed loudly. He smiled.

"Kairi." There was a hint of something in his voice, but the redhead didn't pick up on it.

"What?!" she snapped.

He pulled her closer, until her head was tucked in his shoulder, and their feet were practically on top of each other. Their swaying slowed until they were barely moving at all. But, Roxas noticed, not many of the students were actually dancing anymore, caught up in the heartfelt emotion that came hand-in-hand with slow dancing.

Suddenly Kairi completely froze up, like a statue. Both teenagers came to an abrupt halt in the middle of the dance floor, and Roxas suddenly realized that Kairi wasn't warm anymore; her skin was cold. He looked down at her, slightly alarmed. "Kairi?"

She wasn't looking at him. Her gaze was past him, over his shoulder. Confused, he glanced back to find a peculiar figure with a black, feathered mask looking right at her. Roxas stood there for a while, bewildered, until he noticed the silver gleam coming off of the stranger's long hair. He realized the problem too late, and Kairi pushed away from him, pulling her mask down lower, shaking slightly.

"I…sorry…I've got to…" She breathed out heavily. "Bye." She turned and ran for it. He took a step forward to go after her, then reluctantly slowed to a halt. Chasing her wasn't going to help any, he knew. He clacked his tongue against his teeth, considering what he was going to do. He wasn't one to think before he acted, so he didn't get very far along the thought process before he felt a presence behind him.

"Sorry to ruin your night," a cold voice that pierced him like a knife hissed into his ear. Roxas bit the inside of his cheek.

_Don't do anything irrational_, he told himself. But, in all honesty, he was just thinking that so that he didn't feel totally guilty later.

He turned slightly so that his eyes met Riku's. "No problem. Looks like things are about to get interesting anyway."

Riku snickered. "Kairi hasn't quite gotten over our little adventure yet, it seems."

Roxas felt something pound at the inside of his skull.

_Stay calm. He's just trying to get under your skin_, the little voice in his head advised him.

"No, she has," he lied coolly. "But, like most people, she can't help but be appalled by your grotesque face." He was using the best words that he had learned from Kairi, just to make Riku feel inferior. There was logic to this stuff.

Riku didn't seem to be put off by this statement. Of course, he _was _wearing a mask. "So, she told you about what happened that night?"

Roxas froze, and felt his gaze automatically turn into a glare. Adrenaline was slowly but surely making its way through his veins.

"Of course," he said sharply. He was not going to lose to this bastard. No way in hell.

"Really?" Riku smirked. "Every detail? That conversation must've been quite R-rated."

Roxas considered spitting in his face, but it wouldn't have been as fun since he was wearing a mask. "You didn't do anything."

"Is that what she told you?"

Roxas snapped. "She doesn't have to tell me! It's obvious that you're just a sissy mother—!"

The music drowned the rest of his insult out, but Roxas figured he'd gotten the gist of it. Riku laughed and shook his head.

"You know, I'm surprised you haven't tried anything on her before," Riku continued. "She's quite adorable, actually."

"Well, that may have something to do with the fact that I'm not a sexist bastard. Or, it could be just because you are one." Roxas was struggling to keep his voice levelled now. His balled-up fist kept twitching as if it had a life of its own.

"Really innocent, you know," the silver-haired boy said, gracefully ignoring Roxas's constant interruptions, taking a step forward so that no one else could hear them. "The first two kisses were voluntary, but by the third she was begging me to stop."

Roxas lunged forward, then stopped himself at the last possible second.

_Calm! Calm! _The voice in his head was freaking out. He straightened up again and bit down on his tongue as hard as his teeth would allow him. Riku smirked, amused. Roxas's heart was beating rapidly and painfully, and he had an indistinct urge to throw up.

"That's…nice." He couldn't think of anything else to say. He was acutely aware that he was losing his edge.

"It _was _nice," Riku said, and his smile was too wide for Roxas's liking. "After all, knowing that you're the first is always a good feeling."

Roxas tongue was in danger of bleeding. Things around him were getting fuzzy. He felt his hand seize Riku's collar. The other shook as if ready to strangle him.

"Shut up." His comebacks were getting weaker and weaker as time passed, but he could feel how venomous his voice was, and hoped that it instilled at least some fear in his rival.

"You want to take a swing at me?" Riku taunted, not seeming to understand how rabid Roxas was becoming. "Go on then." His smile spread dangerously, looking like he was about to grow fangs. "I dare you," he jeered, oblivious to the fact that he had said the magic word. Roxas wound up, wanting to deliver the most painful blow the boy had and ever would receive, and felt his fist connect with Riku's jaw in a powerful uppercut. There was a most horrible _crack_ sound from Riku's neck, and the senior's chin flew up into the air almost in slow motion. He didn't fall, but he staggered, looking quite dazed. A girl near them cried out and soon everyone was staring at them in intense interest.

Roxas glared the other teenager down, thankful for the anonymity presented to him by his mask, and as Riku snickered and charged towards him, he quickly kneed him in the stomach and slammed his elbow into his back. The reason for his fist-fighting seemed to disappear from his mind—he just knew he wanted Riku to die. And that was that.

As Riku fell on one knee, his mask went up a little. He quickly pulled it back down over his eyes. Roxas seized it and twirled it around in his fingers, examining it.

"Trying to hide behind this, huh?" he said, looking down at Riku, who was looking at the crowd watching in alarm. So many more words came to mind than "huh", but he tried to keep his name-calling down so that, once again, his conscience would be at least a little clear that night.

He threw it down on the floor and smashed it beneath his foot, the snapping noise it made somehow gruesome to the ears. Riku attempted to fight back weakly, taking a swing at Roxas's stomach, but Roxas was far too furious for that. He mercilessly threw a punch at Riku's face. Riku fell backwards, his eyes rolling back in his head. As Roxas hovered over him, he considered giving a final kick, but decided against it and walked out of the gymnasium.

"Is that Riku who just got knocked out?" he heard a girl whisper to her friend.

"Who's that guy?" people kept hissing to each other as he walked past.

Roxas finally exited building, still safely unidentified, when he heard footsteps running behind him.

"Roxas!" Naminé's voice called out. "What happened? Why did you just—?"

"Naminé," he snapped in aggravation, turning to face the blonde girl, "I'm a little busy. I've got to go."

"But Roxas…" Her voice was suddenly slick again, and it just irritated him further. She walked closer to him, her lips puckered. "You promised you'd dance with me."

"You…" Roxas could barely contain all the frustration building up inside him. He gently, but clearly angrily, pushed her away. "Stop throwing yourself at me! Don't you have any self respect?!" She looked at him almost dully. He felt the taste of violence coming back into his mouth. This time, however, he managed to contain it. "Jeez," he huffed. "You and Riku really deserve each other!"

And without another word, he raced down the road.

**xXx**

He found Kairi sitting by herself at the dock.

Nobody else went down to the dock besides him, Kairi, Sora, and Yuffie because it was the riskiest place to be on the island—high tides were common, and ten foot waves even more regular than that. It was long abandoned for canoeing because many had become flooded, and even ruined.

Roxas walked up, sat beside her, and said nothing. Kairi didn't look up at him. They both sat there in silence for who knows how long. The redhead stared out into the night tainted ocean, and Roxas examined his bruised knuckles, testing them to see exactly how painful his injuries were by poking them.

"Sorry." Kairi's voice was barely audible over the rush of the current. "For leaving, I mean."

"I'm not mad," Roxas said calmly, and the girl gave a nod of her head before falling into silence. The wind blew sand onto Roxas's knuckles. He let out a yelp of pain and blew on the small, reddish cuts. Kairi glanced over at him before taking a gentle hold on his wrist and bringing it over to examine it.

"What did you do?" she sighed, already placing the blame on him. Roxas recoiled for a second, but then quickly sent her a triumphant smile.

"I beat up Riku, of course!" he announced proudly, and he brandished his injuries victoriously, wincing only a bit as he spread out his fingers.

Kairi's jaw dropped open. "You did _what_?"

"Yup!" he continued on cheerfully. Now that the fight was over, it seemed like a very mild thing. He leaped to his feet. "It was too easy!" He presented to her the moves that he remembered. "Uppercut, knee up, elbow down, and then bang!" His fist connected with the palm in his other hand, making a powerful _smack_. His knuckles burned but he ignored it. He felt a mischievous smile creep across his face. Now that he thought about it, Riku's expression had been pretty entertaining. "Right to the face."

Kairi stared, making noises that didn't seem to connect with each other. Roxas sat back down and resumed blowing on his hands.

"You know, Riku's head is as hard as it looks," he remarked coolly. Kairi shook her head quickly, her carefully curled hair tumbling down her face.

"You…you…" A dark aura seemed to be wafting off of her. She held trembling fingers up to her face. "Why did you do that?" she finished weakly.

Roxas frowned, the reason for his fit suddenly coming back to him. He grit his teeth and finally spoke, the aggravation obvious in his voice.

"He said something annoying."

She cocked her head to the side. "'Something annoying'?"

He knew she was hinting for him to tell her what, but he played dumb and didn't reply. Soon they'd fallen back into silence, but Roxas felt a question pounding in his head. He knew it wasn't the time, but he couldn't take it; he felt like he'd dealt with it long enough.

"Was what Riku said true?" he questioned hoarsely. "Did he really…Did he…you know…did he…?" He stopped. Nope, he definitely couldn't say anything more, no matter how hard he tried. He looked at her. "_Did_ he?"

Kairi got the idea. She didn't look at him and kept her head down.

"No," she said, and her voice was as watery as her eyes must have been. "But he got far enough."

At this bit of vague information, Roxas did a full body twist. He looked at her almost eagerly, his heart pounding in his ears. He'd had a feeling Riku lied! "What does that mean?"

Kairi looked at him and carefully took off her mask, showing a full pair of red eyes. She wiped at them with a sniffle.

"He…" She looked around nervously, then silently pleaded with Roxas to come closer, even though the beach was empty at this hour. He leaned in slowly and realized he was scared to hear the truth. He almost didn't want to know, but at the same time he was dying to hear. It was a confusing predicament. "He took me to his house, and it was really innocent. We were watching a movie, and when we were halfway in, he leaned in a little bit." She paused and lowered her eyes in shame. "It was just kissing at first," she whispered, her voice lowering considerably, her hands clasped in front of her like a child's who had done something bad. "But then it started getting uncomfortable. He pushed me down on the couch and…" She rubbed at her eyes. "And then he started touching me."

Roxas felt cold all over, and it wasn't just because of the cold autumn air. Kairi placed her clenched hands in her lap. It wasn't difficult to see that she was shivering. He couldn't look at her like that. It was too strange for him. He turned his gaze away and bit his lip angrily.

"I told him to stop. I said, 'Please, that's enough.' But he just smiled at me and…" Her voice trembled, and she started crying. He could hear it even though he wasn't looking.

"Kairi," he said, a note of finality in his voice. He didn't want to hear anymore. As usual, she didn't take the hint.

"H-He told me, 'C'mon, Kairi, don't be such a baby.' And…" She paused. There was a choking sound.

"Kairi," he repeated, this time more sympathy in his voice. But he still didn't turn around. He was afraid to look somehow. There was something so wrong about the way she was speaking. This was not his friend. This was somebody else.

There was a sniffle. "You saw my shirt, right? _He _ripped it open. So of course I screamed as loudly as I could, but he put a hand over my mouth and told me that I was lucky, that I should"—breath—"feel grateful that I was receiving such treatment from him. And I kept on screaming, but it was all muffled, and he kept on…kept on…" She broke down into wracking sobs. Roxas breathed in a sharp breath and looked back at her. He reached out and touched her bare shoulder, which was, of course, freezing.

"Kairi, stop it. I mean it." He really couldn't take it anymore. He relished every injury he had dealt out to Riku, but now he wished he had killed him. She looked at him with watery eyes.

"So I kicked him."

This was a sudden turn. "What?"

"I kneed him. Right where it hurts most. And when he broke down, I pushed him off and ran home." Even though her eyes were still watery, there was something smug about the way she said it.

He sat up, fighting the urge to laugh. Now _this_ was his best friend. "Seriously?"

"Of course, seriously! I…" She wiped away her tears, her jaw clenched in determination. "I wasn't going to let myself get raped by that jerk!" Her eyes shone a little sadly. "But…whenever I think about what he did to me, I can't…I can't help but feel disgusted." She pulled her knees up to her chin and rested her head on them. "With Riku and with myself, for being led around so easily." She laughed, but it was quickly swallowed up by tears.

"Hey." He put an arm around her practically blue shoulders and pulled her head to rest under his chin. Slowly but surely, he could feel his shirt getting damp. "It's not your fault. I'm just glad nothing worse happened." He decided not to tell her how mad he was. It probably wasn't the best time. He felt her sobs slowly cease, and then it was quiet except for the lapping of the ocean against the shoreline. He looked down and the scent of hairspray and strawberry shampoo hit him in the face. "But, now that I think about it, I told you at least a million times to stay away from that guy. Why'd you insist on carrying on with him?"

"I don't know," she admitted. "I guess I just wanted to take a risk once in awhile like you."

He angrily pulled back on a lock of hair. Kairi let out a yelp of pain.

"What was that for?!" she screeched, pulling away from him and rubbing at her pained scalp.

"Idiot!" he scolded her. He felt guilt swelling in his chest. No matter what, these things always seemed to lead back to him. "I am a bad example of a human being, and you know that! Don't do anything stupid just because I might!" Their individual glares locked. After a silent battle, Kairi released a sigh and admitted defeat.

"But I always feel like I'm a boring person to be around. To be honest, I don't even know why we became friends."

"Are you serious?" The shock must've been quite blatant on his face, because Kairi edged away from him a little.

"What, you do?" she asked.

"Of course I do!" he exclaimed. He shook his head. "Sheesh. You always make things so complicated. It's obvious that if I wasn't friends with you, I would be dead by now, and that if you weren't friends with me, your life would be boring as hell." He grinned at her. "We even each other out."

Kairi blinked. "That's it?"

"That's it."

The redhead stared for a bit longer before laughing. "Everything's so simple with you."

"Well, you can't say I overthink things." He looked at her seriously. "But if you keep acting stupid like before, then I'm afraid we can't be friends anymore."

She breathed out. "Okay, deal. I wasn't planning to, anyway."

Roxas stood up and stretched with a satisfied smile on his face. Things had gone better than he could have ever imagined. Kairi stood up as well, and squirmed awkwardly, like there were bugs crawling all over her.

"What's with you?" he asked in genuine confusion, and she glanced at him with slight embarrassment.

"I hate this dress," she replied, pulling it up, then down.

"Aw, but you look so adorable in it," he cooed, pinching her cheek mockingly.

"Ugh, let's just go home," she muttered, wiping at her still somewhat wet eye.

He shrugged. "Whatever you say."

She started off down the road before him, her strides once again certain, and he lulled around behind her. He decided he wouldn't tell her that he thought she looked absolutely perfect right then. It wasn't the time for that either.

"Roxas, take off that dumb mask already!" she shouted at him, looking over her shoulder.

"Eh? But doesn't it make me look handsome and mysterious?" he said, posing, one hand underneath his chin and another up to show his muscular stature.

"No. But it _does_ make you look like a serial killer."

He quickly took it off.

**Sigh. Well, that was that. I hope this chapter teaches you a lesson about taking risks, and to be careful to think about what might be the consequences of your actions. **

**Or, make you jump back and go SQUEE!!! ROXIRI FLUFF!!!**

**Y'know, whichever.**

**Originally, this chapter was supposed to be super awesome, and a masked Axel was supposed to show up in disguise and pull this really awesome trick, but I had to cut it out because it didn't fit in anywhere. Sooo sad…**

**Anyway! Here's thanking you all for your reviews!**

**Read and review!**

**Buhbyes!**


	18. Surprise! It's a Plane!

**Disclaimer: I do not own Kingdom Hearts (II), Roxas, Kairi, Axel, etc.**

**Author's Note: This **_**isn't **_**the last chapter. So yes, I lied. But the next chapter is, I swear! Anyway, I'm almost done, so hang on for a **_**bit**_** longer! Please?**

**Warning: This contains nothing worth warning about. Oh, wait. Obscene hand gesture. Riiight…**

**Quick Author Babble: This chapter was fun! Fun, fun, fun! Countdown till due date: Three days. OMG!**

Chapter 18: Surprise! It's a Plane!

On February 14th, Kairi Thomas woke feeling more mature than she ever had before. She was officially seventeen years old. And when she looked at the light streaming in through her window and saw that the frost had melted off the tree in the backyard from what seemed like a long winter, she knew it would be a good day.

There was no way to explain this. It was just a feeling.

She pushed the covers off and put on her favourite fluffy pink slippers and wondered if she should call Yuffie or not.

On December 25th at exactly three o'clock in the afternoon, Sora and Yuffie showed up at her door and announced that they were officially a couple. Of course, this was shocking news. There couldn't have been a more awkward pairing than grumpy guts Sora and cheerful, energetic Yuffie. When questioned where they had been all this time, Yuffie apologized and said that recently they had just been around each other. Kairi didn't believe this until she caught them making out under the mistletoe.

The new seventeen-year-old tapped her cheek with her index finger and decided against it. Yuffie was always kind of snappy in the mornings.

She leaned down to set her bed when her head hit something hanging off the wall. She jumped back, only to realize it was the dream catcher Roxas had given her for Christmas.

"It's supposed to trap nightmares with this net," he had explained, tapping the peculiar-looking feathered thing, "and then the good dreams go through this hole and down the feathers to you. Riku won't bother you anymore."

She laughed despite herself. Nightmares didn't trouble her anymore, but she doubted it was because of the dream catcher. She really felt better since her friends had returned to her. Even though she was still plagued by the fact that she had her first kiss taken away by such a guy, the past was the past, and she was willing to forget everything.

Besides, it was officially a new year for her! Her older, more mature state bowed down to no guy! She pumped her fist ecstatically and was about to get out her school uniform, when her mother burst into the room.

"_Kairi!_" she cried melodramatically, throwing herself at the younger redhead. "_Happy birthday!_"

"M-Mom," Kairi grunted, trying to carry the weight of the taller individual. "Thanks."

Miss Thomas stood up and clapped her hands. "You are not going to school today!" she announced proudly.

Kairi stared at her mother. "What?"

"That's right! Tomorrow either! It's your birthday, and there's a surprise for you downstairs!"

Kairi was slightly suspicious. Miss Thursday _and_ Friday, then have the weekend? What could this surprise be to take up three or even four days of her time?

"Mom, I have a quiz tomorrow," she said dryly, and went to her closet to get out her blouse.

"Oh, don't worry. Mommy already took care of that! You'll be taking the quiz on Monday! Now put on your best clothes and hurry downstairs!" She glowered at her daughter. "I mean it." With a cheerful laugh, she left the room. Kairi gawked at her mother's retreating back. When it came down to it, she was actually quite a scary woman.

**xXx**

Kairi hurried out of her room as soon as she got changed into her favourite pair of jeans and some top or other. As she was poking around her closet, she realized something weird was going on. And as she continued looking around, she realized that the problem went beyond that.

"Mom!" she cried when she reached the top of the stairs. "Why are some of my clothes missing? And where are my shoes? And what happened to my—"

"HAPPY BIRTHDAY, KAIRI!" She was tackled in an over exaggerated hug from what could only be her uncle.

"Uncle Axel?" she said in confusion, and pulled away from him. He was grinning excitedly, hopping up and down like a child who was about to get candy. "When did you get here?"

"Just this morning!" he chirped. "I wanted to wish you a happy birthday before you left!"

Kairi looked at him in bewilderment. "Left?"

A hand reached out and suddenly Axel stumbled back. Kairi watched as Miss Thomas beat up her younger brother.

"You idiot!" she yelled as she slapped one cheek and then the other. "Didn't I tell you not to ruin the surprise?!"

"I-I'm sorry, Sissy…!" he wailed. Kairi sighed and put a hand to her forehead. Her family really just had too much energy. She coughed loudly and Miss Thomas looked up.

"Oh…oh, yes. Kairi. Here you go." She moved aside to reveal Kairi's suitcase. It looked full enough to explode. There was no way to explain how bewildered Kairi was. She walked up and looked it over, guessing her missing clothes, shoes, accessories, and more were probably all in there. She looked at her mom.

"What is this?"

Miss Thomas smiled. "Don't worry, Kairi. I packed your suitcase for you last night. I sorted them into individual outfits. The first day, you take all that's in the top left hand corner and wear whatever's there, and the second day, you go to the top _right_ hand corner…"

Kairi gaped at the older woman as she gave her instructions. This could only mean that she was going somewhere. But where? What _was_ this?

"Your passport's in the front pocket, along with your birthday gift from me…" She reached in while Axel made a drum roll sound, and she presented a light pink mobile, "…a new cell phone!"

Kairi smiled, but she was just too confused to be excited.

"Umm…okay," she said instead. "Tell me what's going on."

Axel smiled impishly. "It's a surprise, Ri-Ri."

Kairi looked over to Miss Thomas, silently pleading for information. But the older woman just shook her head. "Sorry, but I promised not to tell. Now, get in the car."

"I'm driving?" Kairi's head shot up with excitement. Even though she still only had her G1, it permitted her to drive on normal roads with an experienced driver.

Miss Thomas shook her head and pulled out the car keys. "Nope. We're taking the highway."

"_Mom_!" Kairi pleaded. "It's my birthday! Please?"

"Hurry up, or we'll be late!" Miss Thomas shouted impatiently, shoving her daughter outside and slamming the door behind them.

As Kairi climbed into the front seat with a disappointed sigh, Miss Thomas jumped in and revved up the engine. Axel burst through the door at the last possible second.

"I'm coming too, Sissy!"

**xXx**

When they reached their mysterious destination, Kairi recognized, all too well, the classic signs that they were at the airport. First, there were buses transferring many passengers from one terminal to the other. Second, the airplanes were closer to the ground than normal. And third, there was a sign in front reading, "Airport Parking Lot."

Kairi felt a thrill swelling inside her that she had never felt before. "Mom? What's this? Why are we here?"

Axel unbuckled his seatbelt and leaned forward, so his head was between the two front seats. He winked at Miss Thomas, a grin obvious on his face.

"She's showing some enthusiasm now, Sissy," he said, and Miss Thomas nodded.

"Indeed she is, Axel. And rightfully so."

They got out of the car, and Kairi felt her heart beating a mile a minute. This birthday surprise went beyond all others. Where was she going? It must've some place relatively far away. And for four whole days!

The two siblings walked in front. Kairi struggled to keep up. She was staring at it all in wonder. The only time she had ever taken a plane was when she was much younger, and Miss Thomas had taken her on a business trip to Traverse Town. Traverse Town wasn't much to write home about, but the plane ride had been very intriguing.

_Airports are so clean and glassy and white_, Kairi thought happily. The floor was smooth and she nearly slipped with each stride. Finally she began just sliding her feet along the floor. It allowed movement easily. It was like she was skating.

The airport wasn't very busy this time of year, and the usual bustling that Kairi remembered from her first experience was reduced to only a couple of people passing by now and then. Considering that fact, it was really easy for her to recognize her friends' faces beaming at her as she glided towards them.

"You guys?" She feigned surprise, but she'd figured they would be in on it. This was getting _really_ interesting now.

"Kairi!" Yuffie rushed forward and enveloped her in a hug. "Happy birthday!"

Kairi had been attacked by birthday hugs too much that day. Her back kind of hurt. She straightened up and smiled at Yuffie.

"Thanks, Yuffie." She turned her cheerful expression to Roxas and Sora, who waited patiently behind. "Hi."

Sora winked at her, but didn't hug her. "Bon anniversaire," he said in fluent French, and she could tell he'd been practicing saying it exactly right. He tossed a soft, chestnut teddy bear her way. A little embarrassed to have it in public, she gave it to her mother who stuck it in her purse.

"Thanks, Sora! It's cute." She turned to Roxas expectantly, but he didn't move any. Sora nudged him with his elbow. Roxas looked at her and shook his head.

"I don't want to give this to you," he said simply, and Yuffie rolled her eyes.

"Come on, Roxas. It's not _that _embarrassing," she remarked matter-of-factly. He sighed and reached towards his back pocket.

"OUCH! DAMMIT!" he shouted, swiping back his hand immediately and sucking at his thumb. Everyone looked at him quizzically. He smiled weakly and held out a rose towards her. She took it gingerly between her fingers. "Careful, there are thorns," he warned while rubbing at his injured digit.

Axel took the rose from her and twirled it between his fingers. "Oh, yeah! It's Valentine's Day, isn't it?"

Roxas nodded with a smile. "Yup."

"Which is why Roxas said it was 'necessary' to get Kairi a rose," Sora added, clearly amused. The blond boy looked a little bit flustered as he denied this accusation.

"Don't remind me," Kairi moaned. "I _hate_ that I was born on Valentine's Day. People get so mushy about it. It's disgusting."

"But that means you're going to have a great love life," Miss Thomas put in. Kairi glared at her, clearly agitated.

"Shut up, woman," she ordered her mother, and immediately Miss Thomas fell silent.

"Anyway, let's have breakfast," Axel suggested. "You guys have to get going soon."

A light bulb went on in Kairi's brain. She turned to her raven-haired friend, who was always trustworthy when it came to revealing things.

"Oh, yeah! Yuffie, what's happening?"

The taller girl put a finger to her lips. "Sorry, Kai-Kai! My lips are sealed!"

Kairi let out a long sigh as her friends skipped ahead. Not this again.

**xXx**

The plane wasn't even close to full, but in economy class, it was still quite packed in. There were seats lined along all sides in rows of two. Yuffie and Sora were sitting together as they had requested, so Kairi and Roxas had the two seats in front of them.

After breakfast in a little café at the airport, Miss Thomas and Axel had informed her that they were not coming along on the plane. It hadn't surprised her so much as frightened her a little at how fast this change had come about.

"So, Radiant Garden, huh?" Kairi inquired, looking at Roxas, who wasn't paying attention, but instead loyally watching the screen on the chair in front of him.

He looked at her in alarm. "How did you know?"

"I saw it while we were waiting at the gate. It said the flight number, and in really big letters 'Radiant Garden.' Plus, they announced it five minutes ago." She crossed her arms and puffed out her cheeks. "I'm not stupid, you know." For a while, he sat there, staring at her in surprise, and then he burst out laughing.

"No, but you sure are a stick in the mud," he told her with that irritating half-smile on his face, proving that he was mocking her all the more. "We tried so hard to keep it from you. You could've at least played along."

"Well, I don't work that way. If you don't tell me something, I get annoyed." It was true. Her lust for knowledge was almost harmful.

He smirked. "You get annoyed at everything." The redhead girl stuck her tongue at him.

"Yuffie!" Kairi wailed, turning around in her seat to face the two sitting behind her. "Roxas is—" She stopped mid-sentence. Yuffie and Sora were already asleep, leaning on each other for support. "Aw," she couldn't resist saying. Their expressions were so innocent. It was quite an adorable sight to witness.

"What?" Roxas swivelled around to face them too. He made a face. "Ew." He looked a lot like a five-year-old, Kairi couldn't help noticing.

"What's 'ew' about it? It's cute."

"It's not cute at all. Those two are so wrong for each other." He frowned and started flipping through a magazine. Kairi watched him carefully. He seemed a little annoyed.

"Well, I'll admit it was surprising but…they _were _always close," Kairi said. She felt like she should be a little defensive…for Yuffie's sake, of course.

"Look," Roxas snapped, slamming down his magazine and actually glaring at her. "It's obvious that Sora's crazy and Yuffie's blind. So let's just stop talking about it, okay?"

"Alright." Her tone suggested there was something wrong with him. "Jeez. What Valentine's Day are _you_ living in?"

He didn't say anything.

**xXx**

"Kairi."

"Mm."

"You've got to see this."

"Five more minutes."

"It'll be gone in five minutes."

"Ugh…what's worth waking me up for…?"

She looked up to see the side of Roxas's neck. Her eyes widened and she immediately recoiled, a little bashful at having fallen asleep in such a position. She rubbed at her eyes and yawned sleepily and glanced over at the blond boy. He was looking out the window with an almost triumphant smile on his face. He looked over at her.

"Come on," he said, gesturing for her to come closer. "Check it out."

She stood up a little in her seat and went closer to the window, and she felt a gasp escape her throat. Below them, at a great expanse, was a huge, colourful city. She could see cars, about the size of ants, stuck behind other vehicles on long highways. Tall, glass towers gleamed in the early afternoon sunlight, and shops and giant TV screens were thrown everywhere, like a giant collage of wonders you would never, ever see, in all your life, on Destiny Islands.

Radiant Garden was as amazing as she'd always imagined. She'd always wanted to see a big city like this, experience what adult life was like, and what possibly was ahead in her future, and below her laid an infinite number of opportunities to do so. Her mother was so sly.

"W-Whoa," she stuttered, overwhelmed.

"Kairi Thomas, welcome to Radiant Garden," Roxas said, shooting her a smile over her shoulder, and she grinned exuberantly.

**xXx**

"What should we do first?" Kairi said as she skipped out with her suitcase casually dragging behind her. She could see the flashing city lights and the infinitely alpine skyscrapers from the doors of the airport, and it made her heart beat faster with enthusiasm.

"Eat," Roxas suggested.

"Shop!" Yuffie squealed.

"Go to our hotel and put our luggage away," said the always reasonable Sora. They went along with that.

Kairi walked beside Sora, peering over his shoulder at the directions he held in his hand.

"You've got this all planned out, huh?" She looked at him in slight admiration.

"Nah. You're mom planned most of it. She just gave _me _the instructions, considering _I'm_ the most responsible out of the three of us, huh, Roxas?" He finished the last part with a yell directed right at the blond boy, who stuck his tongue out at him.

"Don't think too highly of yourself, Scott. Nobody likes an egocentric jerk," he said coolly, and Sora sent him a rude hand gesture.

But Kairi wasn't paying attention anymore. She was looking at her surroundings in wonder. There were so many people, so many buildings, so many things in general that enveloped her. The peace and quiet of Destiny Islands was all good and well, but there never seemed to be anything to do.

_Being bored must be impossible here_, she thought with an excited flush.

"Just turn right here and…" Sora murmured thoughtfully to himself, "it should be at the next corner."

And then, there it was—their home base for the next four days. It wasn't anything extravagant. In fact, it was small and quaint compared to the other buildings, but she could tell that it was at the cosier part of town. She knew this because there were humble flower pots along the side walk and small trees growing out of patches of soil in the cement, attempting to give it a homier effect.

"This is amazing," Yuffie breathed. She turned to Kairi, who was still spacing out. "It's kind of a birthday treat for all of us, huh, Kai-Kai?"

She looked back over and grinned. "I guess so."

"As long as Roxas doesn't get all caught up in his list of dares again, I think this could be a really great opportunity for you, Kairi," Sora remarked. Roxas whacked him upside the head.

"Idiot! I'm not going to do that here!" He looked delightedly at the redhead. "First thing's first. As soon as we get settled into our room, I say we go out and throw the best birthday party ever for Kairi!"

"Yeah!" Yuffie cheered, hopping up. "We'll go out to a fancy restaurant, and then for karaoke, and then to a movie…! This is going to be the best thing since…since…well, I don't know! Kairi, your mom's the coolest!"

Kairi nodded in cheerful agreement as they entered the hotel.

**xXx**

"The bed's so soft!" cried Yuffie, jumping up and down on the mattress of her separate bed. Kairi peered out of the window out to the amazing sight of the city. She flushed at the thought of it being lit at night.

"We'll be in the next room, then," Sora said, pointing to the door that separated their space from the guys'. It was a split room of four beds, two bathrooms, two closets, and two television sets. It was cheaper than two individual rooms, Kairi knew. Her mother was smarter than she seemed.

Roxas flung open the door and literally leaped in.

"I call the bigger bed!" he called out from the other room, and Kairi could hear the creak of springs.

"They're both the same size, moron!" Sora shouted at him, but he ran in anyway. The door slammed shut behind them. Yuffie rolled her eyes.

"Boys." But she laughed despite of the complaint.

Kairi looked at her with a bright expression, aware of how much she was glowing. There was a floating feeling surrounding her, and she felt like she would never come back down.

"Yeah," she said. She walked over and joined Yuffie on her bed. The raven-haired girl sat up and her eyes sparkled. Kairi could tell she was expecting some girl talk, so she obliged. "How are you and Sora?"

"Great!" Yuffie chirped, clapping her hands together. "He's actually quite cute, once you get past the over-gelled hair." She nodded with a sigh. "I've been telling him to fix it, but he just doesn't want to. Says it keeps his bangs out of his eyes. I just can't understand it. But, what can you do? He's as stubborn as a mule, and nothing can—"

"Yuffie?" Kairi interrupted her. There was something still on her mind.

Yuffie looked up. "Mhm?"

"Do you think you and Sora…are, you know…_right_ for each other? I mean, I'm not against it or anything," she added quickly when she looked at Yuffie's surprised expression, "I'm just asking because you guys are so…different."

Yuffie thought about this for awhile, then looked back at her.

"Sora can be really grumpy sometimes, and he has his moods. He's kind of a jerk and is absolutely no fun if you don't cheer him up. But, at the same time, he's really responsible and considerate, and always understands what I'm talking about no matter how weird it is. Sometimes he tells me 'Yuffie, you're too energetic' or 'Yuffie, you have to pay attention when people are talking to you', but he puts up with it, just like I put up with his faults. He keeps me out of trouble and I keep him in a good mood. So I guess what it all comes down to is…hmm…I guess we even each other out." Yuffie nodded confidently. "Yup. That's definitely it."

Kairi stared. Her brain slowly crept back to the night of the winter masquerade two months ago.

_It's obvious that if I wasn't friends with you, I would be dead by now, and that if you weren't friends with me, your life would be boring as hell. We even each other out. _

She felt realization slowly crawl up on her like a big, hairy spider. She clawed at the sheets. There was no reason to be nervous! None at all!

"That…that can't be the only reason you got together," she stuttered, her voice breaking a little. "I mean, there must be something else to it than just that."

"Of course!" Yuffie confirmed she wiggled her eyebrows. "Haven't you ever heard the saying 'opposites attract'?"

Kairi could feel a cold wind blow through her. She clasped at her arms, and pictures flashed through her mind, similar to a person who was about to die—Roxas's face in his sleep, her and Roxas in the rain, Roxas pinning her against the wall, Roxas grinning happily at her, Roxas grabbing onto her from behind, Roxas proudly showing her how he beat up Riku, Roxas dancing with her at the masquerade, Roxas, Roxas, Roxas, Roxas…

"What…what does this mean?" she said, drawing her knees up to her chin. Yuffie looked at her in confusion.

_Dear Diary,_

_Am I really that oblivious?_

**YES! DEVELOPMENT! Are you happy? Hm? Huh? Well? Are you? **

**Because I am. That means I might just make it to my deadline!**

**Thanks to you all who reviewed me! It means a lot!**

**Read and review!**

**Write to you later!**


	19. It's Not a Dare!

**Disclaimer: I do not own Kingdom Hearts (II), Roxas, Kairi, Sora, etc.**

**Author's Note: DID YOU KNOW?? This chapter is the last! I mean, this story was really wHoOoOoH, and now that it's over I don't feel quite satisfied. I mean, how do you finish something like this? **

**Warning: Um? Romance scene? (Is that bad?) **

**Quick Author Babble: More in the epilogue!**

Chapter 19: It's Not a Dare!

At the same time as Kairi and Yuffie were talking, the boys on the other side of the wall were also discussing something of importance. At first, it carried on as normal, with Sora taking charge of setting up the room while Roxas lazed around on the bed watching TV.

"Don't you want to unpack?" the brunet asked as he commenced hanging their jackets in the closet.

Roxas scoffed. "Are you kidding?"

"I thought not," Sora grumbled. He perched the articles of clothing on their respective hangers and shoved them in the closet. With that done, he kicked the door shut and went into the bathroom to sort out toiletries.

Roxas paid practically no attention to the TV. All he had understood so far was that one surgeon had slept with another surgeon, and the chief doctor was drunk for some reason. He couldn't tell if he was watching reruns of ER or Grey's Anatomy. He'd never given much thought to those kinds of things.

"So," Sora called from the bathroom, "how's things between you and Kairi?"

"Fine," Roxas said, blatantly ignoring the meaning behind the question.

"Really? Just that?"

"Well, she seems happy." When Sora poked his head out of the bathroom door to send him a what-does-that-mean look, he quickly added, "Birthday surprise and all."

Sora went back inside and Roxas could hear the tap running, then some clattering and such. He sighed and turned down the volume on the TV.

"How're you and Yuffie?" he asked, heightening the sound of his voice over the television.

"Yuffie?" There was a temporary stillness as he said the name, then the clamouring resumed. "Good. Excellent, actually."

Roxas sat there for a moment, tapping his fingers on the mattress, before heaving a sigh and turning off the TV. He hopped off the bed and leisurely made his way to the bathroom.

"Really?" he said, sounding every bit as skeptical as he felt.

"Yeah." Roxas peered around the doorframe at Sora. He was smiling most unusually, as if all was right in the world. Sora paused, frowned, then lifted his head, and looked up at the blond boy with a yelp of surprise, nearly dropping his toothbrush. "When—?!" Roxas started laughing. Sora's cheeks reddened. "Damn, you're quiet." He chucked a tissue box at the other boy, who simply caught it and attempted to spin it on the tip of his index finger.

The tissue box fell into Roxas's other hand after a failed attempt, and he looked at Sora with what he felt was all seriousness. "So what's really going on between you and Yuffie?"

Sora straightened up the can that was to hold their toothbrushes and looked at him with slight animosity in his eyes. "What do you mean?"

"You and Yuffie…how is it possible? How did such a tragedy come to be?" Roxas inquired a little too dramatically. "I mean, _you_…and…" He found himself grimacing as he thought about the girl's limitless amount of energy and Sora's constant crabbiness mixed together. "…_her_."

Sora rolled his eyes. "What's with you? It's not like this is a new development. It happened months ago."

"I couldn't wrap my brain around it then," Roxas explained. He shook his head to wake himself up. "I still can't!"

Sora flicked the lights off and entered the main room. Roxas trailed behind him loyally. As the brunet plopped himself down on the bed, Roxas hovered over him. Sora sighed and met his intense gaze.

"She makes me happy. What's wrong with that?" he asked, keeping his tone innocent. Roxas covered his face with his hands and groaned.

"Are you listening to yourself? You're talking like a girl! A _girl_, Sora!" He whipped the tissue box that he had unknowingly been carrying around at his friend, hoping to knock the senses into him. It hit him square in the chest, causing him to release a grunt. "Is _this _what Yuffie did to you?"

Sora looked at him dully. "Roxas. You're insane." He said the words slowly so that it could compute. "Why are you making such a big deal out of this?"

Roxas started pacing back and forth, shoving his hands into his pockets and biting his lip in agitation. "I don't know! It just…it doesn't make any _sense_. You and Yuffie are two completely different people. Do you even listen to the same music?"

Sora shrugged. "Opposites attract."

Roxas reacted to this instantaneously. "_Don't say that!_" he bellowed, and Sora put his hands up in surrender.

"I get what this is about," the brunet suddenly stated, and Roxas felt disconcerted by the creepy grin growing on his friend's face. "You and Kairi. You're nervous about the fact that since Yuffie and I are dating, it's officially possible for two good friends who are nothing alike to get together." Sora slowly got up from the bed. The springs creaked from beneath. The blond boy felt himself retreating under the intense blue gaze. "Because in all honesty, like everyone but Kairi seems to know, you _like_ her. And now that all obstacles are out of the way, you're worried that you won't be able to control yourself." He flashed a toothy grin. "Am I right?"

"W-What?" Roxas was ready to take another step back, but he quickly changed his mind and seized the other boy in a headlock. "What are you saying? You're always going on about crap like that."

The other boy reached up and pushed Roxas's head down with his. "Fine, whatever. Deny it. You'll only end up regretting it."

There was a knock at the door, and immediately Yuffie sprung into the room.

"Guys! We should get going now!" She admonished them in their wrestling-type positions. "What the hell are you doing?" The boys separated, slightly embarrassed. Yuffie shook her head with a sigh. "Honestly. You two are like cats, fighting all the time for no good reason."

Sora frowned. "Don't compare me to a cat."

Yuffie ruffled his hair affectionately. "Sorry. Tiger, then."

Roxas noticed the lack of Kairi's presence, so he walked into the next room. She was sitting by herself on the bed, looking kind of blue in the face. He walked up and bent down to look her in the eyes.

"Kairi?" he said, and she jumped back with a squeak.

"O-Oh. Roxas. It's you." This didn't seem to make her feel any better.

They looked at each other and, surprisingly, Roxas couldn't think of anything to say. For no particular reason at all, he felt a bit shy. He could still hear Sora telling him, matter-of-factly, that he would no longer be able to control himself.

_Sora, you bastard! _he thought angrily, and started thinking of the assorted punishments he was going to give the brunet boy that night.

"We…we should get going," Kairi suggested quietly, sliding off the mattress and pulling on a sweater. Roxas looked down at his sneakers and nodded.

"U-Um." His voice broke embarrassingly. He bit his lip down hard and glanced at her in alarm. She was admonishing him somewhat blankly. Maybe she hadn't noticed. "What would you like to do to…to celebrate your birthday?" Everything he was saying suddenly sounded lame. Kairi shrugged her shoulders and smiled thinly.

"_Karaoke!_" Yuffie shouted, jumping into the room with gusto.

"No way. Dinner and a movie," Sora interjected, pushing away his girlfriend's request almost too easily.

Yuffie pouted at him. "You're never any fun."

Sora raised an eyebrow. "And _you're _never quiet."

The raven-haired girl huffed and crossed her arms. Roxas rolled his eyes at this typical behaviour.

"I think Kairi should pick," he said. "After all, it _is_ her birthday."

"That's true," Sora agreed. He turned to Kairi with a somewhat comforting smile. "What would you like to do, Kairi?"

She scratched at her cheek, blushing a little. "Well…"

**xXx**

They approached Upper Radiant Garden Bay. By then the sky was already turning a reddish pink, and the water matched it, the waves tinged with coral, but still with hints of blue. Kairi ran up to the rope-guarded dock and watched as a ferry boat went by, leisurely treading water.

"I can't believe it," Roxas sighed. "Here we are, just getting off of Destiny Islands to escape from the sea, to stand beside yet another body of water."

Kairi grinned at him. "We're not here for the water, Roxas! We're here for the statue of Ansem the Wise!"

Ansem the Wise was the beloved ruler of Radiant Garden, accent on the _was_. After his mysterious disappearance, the citizens realized how much he had helped their community, and built a statue in his honour. It was famous all around the world for its enormity and detail, and best of all its stunning beauty at night.

"They say that, at night," Kairi continued, "when the moon rises, his frown turns into an all-knowing smile. I want to see if that's true."

"That's obviously a lie to attract tourists," Sora said dryly. Yuffie shook her head at him.

"Where's your sense of romance? I find it so mysterious and cool! I'm glad you brought us here, Kai-Kai!" She grinned at the redhead, who did the same in return.

Roxas didn't say anything. He examined the statue. It was a tall man in an indistinct cape. His hair went down to his shoulders and he had a beard that went no farther than a centimetre from his chin. He was a holding an open book and had a pair of spectacles teetering on the end of his nose. But his mouth, he noticed, was in what seemed like a permanent scowl.

"Looks like a grumpy old geezer," he commented, and Kairi glared at him.

"What? This statue is prized by all of Radiant Garden! Don't say such a thing!" She went back to watching.

Roxas released a sigh and walked up beside her, leaning against the security rope. Together, they watched as Ansem continued with his tantrum.

**xXx**

Roxas watched as Yuffie and Sora chased each other around in the water, trying to get the other one as soaked to the skin as possible. They splashed and tackled and occasionally tripped over their own feet. In the crimson light of the sunset and the elegant form of Ansem the Wise in the background, it looked like a scene shot straight out of a romance movie. For Roxas, however, things were a little different…

He glanced over at Kairi with a sigh. She was still watching the statue like a hawk, as if he was going to suddenly come to life and laugh at how intense she was being. Roxas rolled his eyes.

"Aren't you cold?" he asked. Although the weather wasn't too much to worry about, it was still winter, and colder here than on the island. She only had a thin sweater to cover her arms. He was freezing just looking at her.

"No," came the abrupt reply.

"Not at all?"

"No."

"You're shivering."

"No, I'm not."

Roxas ran a hand through his hair with another heavy sigh. Looked like he was going to have to be a bit cliché here. He removed his jacket and draped it around her tense shoulders. The girl's head quickly shot up.

"Roxas?" She looked at him with minor alarm. He shrugged. He had a sweater on underneath, so it was no big deal. She brought the jacket closer around her and released a breath that lingered in the air for a moment before fading. Then, ever so inconspicuously, she edged away from him. "U-um…thank you."

The sun was making its last visible beam of light before disappearing. The sky was more purple than red now, and the moon was starting to show behind the clouds. Sora and Yuffie had stopped running around, apparently out of energy. Sora had sat down on the grassy hill nearby, but Yuffie's ankles were still submerged in the bay, and she was just standing there, watching the sky like Kairi. Eventually, her head turned and she met Roxas's gaze with a smile and a wave. Sora looked over at him too, but only for a second before turning away again.

The sun disappeared behind the buildings, and the sky was indigo for a few minutes, then navy. The moon came into view, shining weakly amidst the stars. Roxas looked at Kairi, who he could barely see because of the darkness. But there was something about her presence that made his heart pound.

"Kairi," he said. She glanced over at him, and it was clear she wanted to keep watching Ansem for a dramatic change in facial expression.

"Hm?"

"I've just thought of something."

"What is it?"

He took a step closer to her. "We've never kissed before."

The silence that met him was both humiliating and awkward. If only he could see Kairi's face! Then he'd be able to tell what she was thinking.

"I mean," he pressed on, "we've hugged and held hands and even told each other 'I love you.' But never kissed. Don't you find that weird?"

There was a gulp. Then he heard Kairi stutter, "B-But that was all a joke. A…a friend thing. Kissing is…" She paused. "Different."

He leaned in. "Really?"

"Y-Yeah. I mean…I…" Her voice seemed to fizzle out like a matchstick. He could feel her breath on his face, so she must've been able to sense his.

He wondered what he was doing. But there was no time for thinking or reconsidering. He started pondering how close, exactly, he was to her lips. If he leaned in anymore, would they be kissing?

He froze right there. He couldn't will himself to move anymore. He wondered what she was feeling right now. Did she want him to kiss her? Was she wondering if he was insane? Heck, _he _thought he was insane! Why was he doing this? He wanted to move forward so badly. He wanted her to tell him that she loved him, so badly that it confused him. He was jealous of Sora and his closeness to Yuffie. But, worst of all, he was sickeningly envious of Riku, who had gotten to kiss her and touch her and convince her that they were in love.

The lights surrounding Ansem the Wise were turned on, and, in rainbow coloured splotches, he could see Kairi's face. It was bright red, and her eyes were shut tight, as if caught in a permanent flinch. She seemed as paralyzed as him.

He didn't know what he was thinking, what she thought of him, or if this was the right time or place. He just knew one thing: that he, right at that moment, was in love with that flushed, rigid girl standing in front of him, best friend or not. He ran a hand through her hair, which was as soft as he'd figured, and watched, only slightly humoured, as she bunched up her shoulders like a scared kitten.

Roxas leaned in more, feeling a little bit worried for his friend's health as their lips met. She seemed to have a slight seizure, and then, just as suddenly as she had shook, she stopped. He was sure to be extra gentle, because he knew Riku must've been the exact opposite. At first it was just him, and then he felt pressure on his mouth. There was no way to describe the sensation—it was soft and almost playful, as if one of them would pull away at any moment. It wasn't like when Naminé had kissed him, sudden and weird and everything suddenly blurry around him. It was like what he'd always thought Kairi to be—shy, considerate, but a little bit forceful. There was a fierce hammering against his ribcage; he pulled away quickly as he felt a heart attack come on, only to find, to his resentment, that he wanted more.

Kairi's eyes were so wide that they seemed to reflect everything in them. He felt that impossible worry settle in him again that she was going to explode from all he had put her through. He took a step forward, and she was sure to put a hand over her mouth this time.

"I love you," he said. She lurched as if she was electrocuted and turned so red that she used her hands to hide from him. He laughed at her uncharacteristic vulnerability and gently pulled her hands away. "Not the same as before, is it?"

She shook her head. "I…you…are you joking?" she finally wheezed, and he smiled sympathetically.

"I guess we'll never know."

She looked so confused as he looked over to Yuffie and Sora, who also, ironically, were kissing. When he looked back at the statue of Ansem the Wise, he could swear that he was smiling at him.

**xXx**

"You _kissed_ her?"

Roxas nodded. Now that it was all over, he felt ashamed. Kairi hadn't looked at him at all after that, except for once at dinner, and she'd quickly looked away again. Sora gaped at him.

"You kissed _Kairi_," he said, as if to confirm it.

"Yes. Yes, I did."

Sora whistled and leaned back against the backboard of his bed. "Well, that didn't take very long. You shouldn't take a guy's advice so seriously."

Roxas whipped a pillow at him, relinquishing a grunt out of the other boy. "It wasn't because of you! I just did it because…" He felt the look that Sora was giving him. It made him tense up. He reached for a bottle of water and took a hefty gulp. "I wanted to, that's all," he finished weakly.

"Jesus. Kairi will be scarred for life. You can't just pounce like that."

"I didn't pounce!" Roxas roared, chucking his second and last pillow at Sora. The brunet successfully dodged this time. It hit the window and landed on the floor with barely any noise at all. "Will you stop putting words into my mouth?!"

"Fine, fine. Now tell Doctor Sora the rest, and he'll try to fix it," said Sora, his tone sour. "Not that there's much chance of that," he added in a mumble.

Roxas growled warningly at him, but as his thoughts passed over the events of that night, he found himself getting more and more distraught. Maybe he really _had _pounced. He was no better than Riku.

"I told her…" He mumbled the rest.

"What?"

"I told her that…"

"Huh?" Sora put a hand to his ear. His eyes twinkled with malice.

"I TOLD HER THAT I EFFING LOVED HER! THAT'S WHAT I DID!" he boomed. Sora jumped back and desperately tried to shush him.

"The girls are right next door, you know!" he said. "What, you want to make this situation worse?"

Roxas plopped down on the bed with a sigh. "Oh my God. I'm so screwed. I'm just so…" This was followed by a sequence of swear words.

"Wow, Roxas. I'm really touched," Sora said, fake sniffling. "I didn't know you loved Kairi that much. Actually, I didn't know you loved her at all."

"GO TO HELL!" Roxas chucked whatever he could get hold of at Sora.

"Jesus! You're so violent!" Sora used a pillow as a shield. "Will you just calm down? There's still a way for you to make this up to her."

Roxas paused and put down the thing that he had been swinging back at the time.

"What?" He was really interested.

"You just go in there and apologize, and tell her it was all just a joke. That's the only thing I can think of."

Roxas looked at him, and then released a startlingly depressed sigh. "I don't even know if it was a joke or not."

Sora smiled, patting him on the back. "Don't think too much. It's not like you."

**xXx**

Exactly ten seconds after Roxas had asked Kairi to talk to him out in the hall, his palms started sweating. He felt nervous enough to throw up. He didn't deal with this type of thing everyday, despite what the rumours at school claimed. He gently closed the door behind him, silencing the love argument that had commenced between Sora and Yuffie, and glanced over at Kairi. She looked back at him, this time with more confidence than before, and she had the same face that she wore an hour before taking a test.

"Listen, I'm sorry. About earlier. I mean, not that I didn't enjoy it. Not that kind of sorry. I mean, it was…" Why was he so lame? Why?

"A dare, I know." Kairi looked a little pissed off. Roxas looked at her in blatant surprise.

"What?"

"Sora dared you to kiss me, didn't he?" Her face was turning red, and so was his, for different reasons. "He dared you to scare me, right?"

"_What_?" he repeated. He could understand where she was coming from, but still… "That's not it!"

She crossed her arms, clearly irritated. "Oh, come on. That's always it. It's all about risks for you."

"No, Kairi, really."

"Aren't you ashamed of yourself? Are you really willing to become a pervert for some stupid reason like that?"

"Kairi, I swear…!"

"I mean, you could at least consider my feelings before you start traipsing around pulling _those _kinds of stunts!"

"Kai—" He was totally caught off guard when she pinned him against the wall. She glared at him.

"I don't care if opposites attract or whatever. I don't _want _to fall in love with a guy like you."

His blue eyes were wide and innocent-looking. "Uh, okay."

"So you can't do anything provocative. We're not allowed to kiss, hug, touch…whatever! And you absolutely must never say 'I love you' again."

"A-Alright."

"Even if I say it."

"Um…okay?"

She smiled at him, and there was something about her eyes that made her look tired. Her voice was weak and seemed to fade when she said, "I love you too, Roxas." The statement caused him to blush heavily.

"D-Don't tease me." He couldn't keep the agitation out of his voice. The next thing he knew, he was kissing her again. His head spun. He didn't understand a thing. He felt ashamed and happy all at once. He was breaking every single rule she had just listed.

The guilt got worse as time wore on. He pulled away from her. "So, are we still friends?"

Kairi blushed. "More than that."

Roxas looked at her in confusion. "Best friends?" Still? This relationship's perseverance was really stunning.

Kairi blinked at him for a second, then giggled.

"I dare you to think about it." He paused and looked up at the ceiling, then glanced back at her.

"Is this how your relationship with Riku started?"

She shook her head. "Not at all."

He breathed out in relief. "Thank God. So we're actually in love then." Kairi's face was bright red as he leaned in again. If this was really just one big dare, he had a feeling he wasn't going to have any regrets this time.

~The End~

**Well, thank you all for who supported me! I'm really glad people read this! You may or may not be thinking that the ending is disappointing. I know that it isn't very romantic, and I'd made an alternate ending to this, but then I realized neither of them were acting like themselves. So this was meant to be awkward. Still really pathetic, though, I know.**

**The epilogue will be coming up next, and I hope it'll be more your taste~!**

**Read and review!**

**Ta ta for now! **


	20. Epilogue: A Slight Obsession

**Disclaimer: I do not own Kingdom Hearts (II), Roxas, Kairi, Naminé, etc. **

**Author's Note: This epilogue…is kind of, like, my baby. Even though it has very little relevance to the main characters, I had fun writing it. I love antagonists. **_**Love **_**them. I mean, people aren't supposed to, but I do. I love Xemnas and Xehanort and Voldemort and Captain Barbossa and Mojo Jojo. The only villain I can ever remember that actually scared me was Sephiroth. (God, that guy is creepy!) **

**Warning: This is, like, the last addition to this story! And that is well-worth a warning, I think!**

**Quick Author Babble: It's NAMINÉ-VISION! (Not as fabulous as Riku-vision, but, I mean, whatever.) **

Epilogue: A Slight Obsession

Naminé Clark walked along the sidewalk at a slow pace, feeling the early summer heat beat down on her tank top donned back. Summer vacation would be starting soon, and she'd be going to university. The thought made her slightly nervous. She knew it was no big deal to be going to a local college, considering she'd still be living at home, but the thought of leaving Destiny High hadn't really occurred to her as something major until recently.

She had, in all truth, reigned in that school, and she didn't want to uproot herself from it. Everybody adored her in their own way—the boys, for their own perverse reasons, and the girls, for her keen eye for fashion.

_Well, not everybody, _Naminé thought. She stopped and shook her shiny blonde head. _No! I absolutely cannot think about him! I promised myself I wouldn't!_

She released a heavy sigh, trying to erase the imprint of that very same boy that seemed to be forever on her mind. It was no use. Somehow, her thoughts always drifted back to—

"ROXAS!" A screech echoed down the narrow street. Naminé was nearly run over by a blond blur, and then, a few seconds later, a red one. The red blur stopped temporarily, and Naminé could see that it was actually a girl. Her hair was dripping wet, making dark splotches on her orange T-shirt. "DON'T RUN!" she yelled. "I CAN'T BELIEVE YOU THREW A WATER BALLOON AT ME! YOU JERK!"

She launched a blue balloon across the road, hitting the blond blur directly in what Naminé imagined to be its neck. A dazed, good-looking boy fell over on the sidewalk as it exploded, covering him in some sickly, brown goo.

"Ugh!" He stood up, leaving a brown stain on the sidewalk. Naminé's eyes widened as he turned to look at the redhead. It was, no question, Roxas. He was even handsome covered in mystery garbage. "What the hell _is _this?"

"Maple syrup," said the girl, coming up to him with a satisfied smirk on her face. She dipped her finger into some on his face and ate it. "Ah, the sweet taste of revenge."

"That's really devious, Kairi," he remarked with an impressed nod. "It's no wonder you're my girlfriend."

Naminé stared. That _thing_ was his girlfriend? She was shocked. Horrified, even. She hadn't heard anything about Roxas dating! Why did nobody know about this?

The redhead—Kairi—shrugged. "You've taught me everything you know, I suppose." She laughed maliciously. It was clear that she believed that she was actually the teacher of the two.

Roxas's eyes gleamed with that mischief that made girls, and even Naminé right at that moment, swoon. "Not everything," he said. He swung his sticky arms out wide. "Why don't you give me a hug, Kai-Kai?"

Kairi let out a terrified scream and turned to run backwards, running right into an unprepared Naminé. They both fell painfully on the cement.

"Ah!" Roxas's so-called girlfriend gasped. "I'm so sorry! Are you…"

Roxas came up behind her. "Just because you hide behind an innocent civilian doesn't mean I'm not going to get you." Then he stopped. They both stared at the blonde girl, who steadily started to make her way to her feet.

"Naminé?" Roxas breathed, and as soon as her said her name, she felt her shoulders automatically go up to her ears, as if ice cubes had been dumped down her shirt.

"Ah…I…" she scrambled up quickly, her heart pounding a mile a minute. She felt blood rush to her face. This, of course, didn't help her embarrassment. "Hi. Sorry, I should go…"

She turned to leave. She felt like a complete and utter idiot. She had to get out of there, and fast. So, to her not-so-pleasant surprise, when a sticky hand took hold of her wrist, she was forced to stop. Naminé forced her head back reluctantly to look into the bright blue eyes of the ex-love of her life.

"Wow, Naminé!" he exclaimed as if he was having really good luck that day, despite that he was covered in syrup and talking to the girl he had deemed hopeless many months ago. "I haven't seen you around lately!"

_That's because I've been avoiding you, moron. _

"Ah…well. I've been really busy," she said instead. She wondered why she was being so shy. This should've been no big deal for her. He was just another boy, after all…

"Oh, that's right! You're graduating this year, aren't you?" Roxas beamed. Was he happy to get rid of her, or was he just being nice? How was it that she could never tell? "Congratulations!" He patted her on the back with gummy arm. Naminé cringed as the cold, glue-like substance met with her skin and part of her tank top.

"Don't touch people when you're all disgusting!" Kairi shouted at him. She moved to slap him off of the blonde girl, but stopped when she realized she would become syrup coated as well if she did anything. He winced in embarrassment as he realized what he'd done. He quickly moved away from her, his face tinted red.

"Ah, sorry," he apologized. His reddened face made Naminé, in turn, blush as well. He was still so cute!

_But I feel way too frozen to flirt with him now_, she thought sensibly. _Besides, he has a girlfriend._

She paused and felt her head snap up in shock. The question escaped her lips before she could even think.

"Are you two dating?" she asked, and was met with two opposed answers.

"No, no," said Kairi, waving her hands in the air and shaking her head quickly back and forth.

"Yup!" Roxas answered at the exact same time with a confident nod. They looked at each other, startled. Naminé stood there in a cloud of confusion.

"D-Don't listen to this idiot." Kairi quickly intervened, her face bright red. "Half the time he has no idea what he's saying. We aren't dating. We're, uh…we're just fr—"

"In love," Roxas finished with another triumphant nod, and Kairi stared at him in obvious horror.

"WHAT ARE YOU—?"

"She's told me she loved me," he told Naminé a little too proudly, holding up three fingers, "three times."

"I…that was…it…!" Kairi whisper-yelled. Finally, with a heavy sigh, she sat down on the bench and covered her face with her hands. "I'm so embarrassed."

Roxas glanced over at the still-bewildered Naminé and shrugged. "She denies these kinds of things," he explained patiently. "Anyway, how are _you _doing?"

_Oh, well, if you must know, I just found out that the person that I'm inexplicably obsessed with is in love with another girl._

She wasn't going to tell him that. "Oh, college applications and planning for the graduation ceremony have been stressful, but they're all over now."

He nodded. "I see. That's good. Oh, we were just heading to the canoe dock. Want to join us?"

Naminé stared at him. "The canoe dock?" Her parents always told her to stay away from there because it was really dangerous at high tide. She considered this. Although Roxas was known for being a daredevil, his half-girlfriend-half-not seemed like a perfectly stable person. It couldn't have been that bad. "Umm…sure."

Roxas threatened Kairi that he was going to hug her if she didn't get moving. The redhead shrieked and cleared the way to the beach for the two blondes behind her.

**xXx**

Roxas was looking into the water beneath his feet curiously as small waves lapped at his sneakers. He looked back at the two girls sitting on the edge of the dock and grinned.

"I think I should go for a swim and clean myself off," he said. "Mind if I take off my shirt?"

Naminé felt like she had been hit with a wave of heat. She quickly looked down, blushing like she had never blushed before. She glanced at Kairi. Her face was red as well, but her tone was serious as she said, "Yes."

He pouted at her. "What? Boys take off their shirts all the time when they swim."

Kairi flapped her hand at him. "That doesn't matter. Nobody wants to see that. Besides, your shirt is disgusting too. Take it in with you."

Roxas opened his mouth as if to say something, but instead just smirked at Kairi and jumped into the water. There was something about that look that said, "You've already seen that and more." And indeed, when Naminé looked back at the girl, her face was still quite coloured.

_I am not disappointed that I didn't get to see Roxas shirtless_, Naminé told herself. _That's right. I am totally not. _

She sighed and watched as his blond head bobbed up occasionally from the water. She could see a trail of brown gook follow him, floating on top of the water for a few moments before disappearing.

"I'm pretty sure that's water pollution," she said. Kairi laughed. It seemed to be very peaceful where they were. Separated from civilization almost. It was very quiet besides the occasional squawk of a seagull and the lapping of the water against the coast. That is, it was until…

"_Kairi!_" A raven-haired girl literally attacked the teenager sitting beside Naminé. "I hoped you would be here! Have you been ignoring me for Roxas?"

"N-No, I haven't."

"Just because you guys are a 'thing' now doesn't give you the right to avoid me. That's just mean."

"I-I know it is, Yuffie."

"And are you trying to replace me, huh? Who's this girl sitting beside you? Why haven't you introduced us—" She paused and shifted her gaze to a startled Naminé. The reaction was immediate. The calm atmosphere immediately turned venomous. The blonde girl found that she was instinctively glaring.

_This _girl!

She was the one who had always been around Roxas, willing to pick a fight with her at any moment. She made fun of her every move and was always willing to say that she hated her guts. Needless to say, Naminé wasn't too fond of this girl.

"Blond wad?!" Naminé's archenemy—Yuffie—cried. "Kairi, what's _she_ doing here?! She's not trying to steal Roxas away from you again, is she?!"

"What do you mean, again?" Kairi sighed. "Roxas and I didn't…you know…start…" She blushed heavily. "_Dating_ since three months ago."

Naminé looked at her. Three months ago. She had been ignoring Roxas for five. This tidbit of information, for whatever reason, made her feel relieved.

_So I didn't kiss an already taken guy_, she thought. Then she froze. The kiss! That's right! She and Roxas had kissed what felt like a long time ago. It wasn't the most magical moment of Naminé's life. She had felt like she had deserved it. But, now that she thought about it, that day was one of the few times she'd had good, genuine fun. The thought made her heart ache, but only a little.

"That doesn't matter! What's your evil scheme, devil woman?" Yuffie asked her pointedly. Naminé glared at her. "Evil scheme"! The only thing she wanted to do now was leave.

A hand firmly grabbed Yuffie's shoulder, and a boy only slightly taller than her seemed to appear out of thin air. He had pretty blue eyes, but what seemed like the most uncontrollable hair Naminé had ever seen in her life. She jumped. This boy! She recognized him too! He always sat with Roxas for lunch!

"Sorry," he apologized, not noticing her wide eyes. "Yuffie's a little insane."

"Insane?! Don't be a jerk!" Yuffie kicked him, hard, in the shin. As the spiky-haired boy hopped on one foot, rubbing at his leg and swearing, Naminé looked over Kairi suspiciously. Now that she thought about it, she looked familiar. But she couldn't place her as easily as she had with the others.

Then she suddenly saw it—a turquoise dress, a black, gold-tinted mask, and of course, those tell-tale locks of crimson hair. Roxas's "date." The one, she was sure, he had abandoned her for on one of rockiest nights of her life.

"You…you're that girl from the winter masquerade!" she exclaimed, pointing an index finger at the redhead. Kairi looked back at her, surprised.

"Huh?" Her violet eyes were wide, as if she had just been accused of killing someone.

That's right. She was that mystery girl that Naminé had spent so many nights envying with all her heart. The one that, she was sure, Roxas had beat up Riku for, the one he had chased after as he fled from the scene, the one that had caused him to tell her,

"_You and Riku deserve each other!" _

She had spent that night totally out of it. When she'd gotten back home, she'd laid in her bed for hours, just crying and thinking about what a horrible person she was. She threw herself at people. She had no self-respect. The only person that suited her was the school playboy. That was what she had been told that night. Not to mention that it had been said by the person she liked. So, rightfully, she ignored Roxas for the rest of her days at Destiny High, but it still stung—just a little bit—whenever she thought about him, the only boy that had ever refused her in such a harsh manner.

Naminé continued gaping at Kairi, and the other girl looked at her in confusion. Somehow, knowing that she was the masquerade girl hurt her a lot more than her being Roxas's girlfriend. She couldn't quite explain it, but every time she breathed in, she shook a little.

"N-Never mind," she said finally. The innocent deer-in-the-headlights look Kairi was giving her was too much. At that moment, Roxas came up to the shore. He was soaking wet from head to toe, his blond hair falling over his face. His clothes stuck to him and made suction-y sounds when he tried pulling them looser. When he walked over to the group of friends, he made little squelches with each step he took.

"Oh, hey, guys," he greeted with a wave.

"Roxas? Did you just go swimming full-clothed?" The brunet boy looked surprised and a little amused.

"Only because Kairi didn't let me take my shirt off," he replied, pointedly glaring at the redhead.

"Well, she was right. No one wants to see that," Yuffie piped up.

"What?! Do you guys think I'm obese or something?" Roxas asked, obviously insulted. "That's it. I'm taking it off." He reached for the bottom of it.

"Oh my God."

"Roxas, do us all a favour and keep your clothes on."

"Don't you dare! It's embarrassing!"

This mindless banter was really upsetting Naminé for whatever reason. It was just a group of kids having fun. What was wrong with that? But looking at who was here—the boy she wanted, the girl who already had him, her archenemy, and the guy who seemed to keep them all together—was just too much for her. She stood abruptly and turned to look at the scene. Kairi was forcing down Roxas's shirt as he tried to pull it up, Yuffie was cheering for what seemed like both sides, and Sora was lying on the ground with hand over his forehead, giving the occasional sarcastic comment. Maybe they wouldn't notice if she left.

She turned around and started walking in the direction of, well, anywhere that wasn't there. But she'd only taken three steps when she heard Roxas's voice call out to her,

"Naminé! Where are you going?"

She took a deep breath and turned to face them with a small smile on her face. "Home. I'm tired. You all have fun."

"We can go with you if you want," Kairi said. Naminé shook her head quickly. That was the last thing she wanted.

"No, it's okay. I'm just…I'm just going to go." They were looking at her with what seemed like worry. But that would be ridiculous. She'd only been friends with them for what? An hour? Maybe less? "See you."

She turned, keeping her strides calm and steady for a moment, but before she could think about it thoroughly, she was picking up pace. Soon she was running full speed down the street. She felt the heat get to her and her lungs burn, but there was something so depressing inside her that she welcomed the pain. When she reached the park, luckily shaded by trees, she finally stopped. There were few children; only a few older-looking ones. She sat down on the abandoned swing set and sighed. She was so unlucky. What a way to end her high school career.

Naminé thought about Roxas miserably. It was unlike her to be so emotionally moved by a guy like that. It was embarrassing and horrible. Had she really liked him that much? She moved uncomfortably in her seat at the thought. If that was the case, maybe she should be glad to get the heck out of that school.

She wiped at her wet eyes and sighed. It was deep, throaty, and quite obviously a sad sigh coming straight from the heart. It made her feel slightly better.

"Naminé?" A voice broke through the silence that was nursing her depression. She looked up, startled, to look at the soaked form of Roxas Hernandez, staring at her from a short ways away. She nearly choked on air at the sight of him.

"_Roxas?_" She pulled herself up, allowing the shock inside of her spread to her face.

At the sight of her rare expression, he burst out laughing. "Jeez," he chuckled. She noticed the slight shortage of breath when he talked. Had he chased after her? He sat down on the swing beside her, taking in a deep breath. "Why'd you run?" he asked, the question so direct that it made her uncomfortable.

"Why'd you follow?" she snapped before she could control herself. Truth be told, she was grossly happy with the fact that he did.

He shrugged. "Reflex."

"Won't your girlfriend get mad?" There was slight irritation in her voice, but, at the same time, deep regret.

Roxas laughed. "Are you kidding? She was yelling at me to run faster."

She raised her eyebrows. "Really?"

"Yup. Kairi's that type of person." He smiled proudly as he said it, like a father would. After a few seconds, he shook himself awake. "Anyway, what's up with you? I doubt that this is your house."

She blushed as she thought about her lame excuse. "It's nothing. I just want to swing. Is there anything wrong with that?" Roxas raised an eyebrow at her. She stomped her foot on the ground. "Anyway, why are you being so nice to me? It's not like we're on good terms with each other. The last time we spoke was, like, a million years ago. And the last thing you told me was…" She stopped. Why was she saying so much? It was best to just shut up.

"That you and Riku deserved each other, I know," Roxas grumbled almost immediately after she had stopped talking. This act completely threw her off. It was almost like he had memorized it. "That was really horrible. Actually, all that crap I said to you was really unfair. I feel really guilty about it." He met her wide-eyed gaze with an apologetic one. "Sorry, Naminé."

She stared at him. She had been expecting to feel relieved at these words, but it just made her feel worse. She looked down at her shoes. "No, it wasn't unfair," she sighed. "All that was true. I just didn't like hearing it."

The silence that filled the space between them afterward made her feel nervous. She had said a really lame thing just then. She turned to him, a cringe apparent on her face, only to see that he was giving her a really hard glare.

"If you think things like that," he said, "it's not going to help you. It's just going to discourage you." He got up from the swing. She watched as his anger, like magic, completely disappear to be replaced by a grin. "Don't let jerks like me say things like that." He held out his hand to help her up. "Okay?"

Naminé accepted the hand and stood up, and found her sight getting all blurry.

_I really missed out on something fantastic_, she couldn't help thinking as she looked at his comforting demeanour.

"Damn, I'm getting all emotional," she muttered.

He laughed. "That's all right." He put a hand on her shoulder. "We should head back. Everybody's worried." As if on cue, his cell phone began to ring. The ring tone was something hardcore. Naminé was pretty sure she recognized Steppenwolf. "Hello? Oh, yeah, Kairi. She's right here. Yup, she's okay. We're heading back now." He paused and his eyes widened. "Dammit, you're right! My mom said to be back before five! Ugh, that witch." Naminé glanced at him. He didn't seem the type to say that about family members. "Yeah, yeah, I know I shouldn't call her that. Sorry. Okay. I'll just tell her I wanted to walk you home, no big deal. Alright. Hey, Kairi." A crafty smile came upon his face. "I love you." He sounded incredibly seductive. He winced and pressed the END button on his phone. Naminé looked at him quizzically. He sighed, sounding quite hopeless. "She hung up on me."

Naminé stood there for a second, not quite sure what to do, and then burst out laughing. "You two sure have a complicated relationship."

He nodded. "Nice smile you have there. You should use it more often."

Naminé turned bright red and looked back down at her shoes.

_This guy…_she couldn't help thinking in slight irritation. _I can never tell if he's flirting or being just plain nice. _

"Well, anyway, we'd better hurry. Godzilla is waiting at home for me." He scratched the back of his head and rolled his eyes. Then, picking up the pace, he started walking back in the direction of the dock. Naminé lulled behind him, looking at the still damp creases in his shirt, hearing him softly muttering to himself on how his next dare should be to kill his mother, and smiled.

_I hope I'll make some new friends this summer._

**Well, that was a good way to wrap things up for our blonde friend. I always thought that Naminé was in quite a miserable position. And not just in my story, I mean, in the games too. I mean, having the hero fall in love with you only because he thinks you're someone else! That **_**sucks**_**! **

**Um, well. Anyway. **

**THANK YOU VERY MUCH FOR YOUR SUPPORT! I love you a lot. I love Roxiri a lot too, so I'll write one again someday, for those of you who've been asking. But, please be patient for that development. I have other stories coming up too, so it's going to take awhile. I'm starting a SoKai next and I'm quite pumped. **

**Thanks sooo much! I hope you all have a wonderful new year! **

**Read and review!**

**Ciao!**

**- perfect sorceress -**


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